Greed & Covetousness

Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet.”

I remember my parents buying an identification bracelet for me from the Elementary school that I attended. It had to be in the early 1960’s, as school prayer and the Ten Commandments of the Bible were not banned by the Supreme Court yet because they were placed on the back of my ID bracelet as my choice. Reading the Ten Commandments, the tenth and final commandment has always caught my attention. Covet is not a word that we use much anymore … maybe in something like: “I covet our relationship or friendship”, where it means a positive emotion of delighting in and longing for because of the warm feeling towards that person. So, what was this negative aspect that God was commanding us not to be engaged in and why is covetousness a great evil in the eyes of God?

Ephesians 5:5 “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

The Hebrew word of covet here is “חָמַד”, translated “chamad” means “to lust for”. Paul tells us, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” - Colossians 3:5. That which we lust for is an idol, the love of idols is idolatry and those who practice idolatry (coveting) are idolaters. We live in a hedonistic society that glorifies covetousness; an egocentric culture that talks about grasping all that we can get and if you are not then you are missing out on life. At the very heart covetousness is founded on greed. We are hooked on watching a television series titled “American Greed” and the shows focuses on greedy people being swindled out of their life’s saving by a greedy person to buy the best things in life for themselves, and really reflect the culture of greed coveting their idols; their gods.

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Galatians 5:19-21 “ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, drug abuse, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

I read that greed is like an octopus in the soul, wrapping its tentacles around every part of our spiritual life until it squeezes all the life out of us. Greed and covetousness are the same thing. It is the desire for “more for me” and it cannot co-exist with our walk with the Holy Spirit or the worship of the true sovereign Creator God. The sin of greed and covetousness makes possessions, prestige, power, and position our security and hope. It is a root sin, and the underlying reason for many sins. That is why our Lord Jesus said in Luke 12:15: “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Now that a happy ending!

In Christ, Brian