Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, July 3, 2022
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: God’s commandment not to covet invites an attitude of gratitude and happiness.
I remember years ago I would often drive through wealthier neighborhoods than mine longing for the homes with giant planters and impeccable landscaping. On many occasions I said aloud, “I’m coveting… I’m coveting!”
It may seem harmless, to want something someone else has. But it is far more insidious than at first glance. Coveting is not just about wishing for more. At its core, coveting is about failing to see all that God has already given us, and an ungratefulness for what is ours. As long as my mental and emotional energy is being directed toward what I do not possess, I cannot direct that energy into living a life of gratitude for all that God has done for me already. Sadly, coveting can turn into taking, and when someone takes another’s possessions or home or spouse, the consequences to all involved can be devastating. The long-lasting effects of betrayal trauma, for example, will change a person irrevocably. That is not a choice the coveter/taker should be allowed to make for another.
Just over 12 years ago, a minimalist movement began creeping into our culture. The idea is that people can make do with far less than media culture says people need. (I vividly remember seeing my first tooth-whitening TV commercial and thinking “I never knew I needed that!” Until the commercial, the color of my teeth had never ever crossed my mind. Now, yellow teeth are a sign of poverty or at best laziness.) Now, while a minimalist lifestyle is not for everyone, it certainly highlights our culture’s very strong need to start needing less—to start coveting less. We have come to a place where coveting is woven into our culture’s fabric. It’s time to stop. It’s time to listen again to God’s words, “You shall not covet.” Learning to live with less stuff and more gratitude is hard work—it’s a lifelong practice. But it’s also a key to satisfaction and happiness that is often overlooked. God’s laws were not designed to make us miserable, but to liberate us from the things that prevent us from living full, grateful, happy, connected lives.