Don’t Covet: Contentment Matters – 10 Rules for Life Part 10
What’s your
1 .
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. —Exodus 20:17
4 Categories We Covet
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. —James 4:1–2
Coveting creates
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. —Colossians 3:5
2 . Conquer Unhealthy
Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. —2 Corinthians 10:12
Unhealthy comparison
3 . Count Your
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. —Psalm 16:5–6
Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. —Psalm 37:1–4 NASB
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. —Romans 8:28
4 . Concentrate On Your
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? —Ecclesiastes 5:10-11
Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. —Ecclesiastes 5:12
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. —Ecclesiastes 5:18–20
Contentment is not
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. —Ecclesiastes 6:9
5 . Choose
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. —Philippians 4:11–13
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” —Hebrews 13:5
Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. —Luke 12:15 NASB