Covetousness, the Respectable Sin

When Israel crossed the Jordan and Jericho’s walls fell, God gave a clear command. The city’s silver and gold were devoted to Him. No one was to take any of it.

Achan took some anyway. Later, when he was found out, he explained exactly how it happened:

“Among the spoil I saw a beautiful cloak from Babylonia, about 5 pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing about 1 1/4 pounds. I coveted them and took them, and now they are buried in the ground in the middle of my tent.” (Joshua 7:21)

I saw. I coveted. I took. I hid. That is the anatomy of a hundred sins. But notice where it starts. Not with the taking, but with the wanting.

The tenth commandment

Of the Ten Commandments, nine deal mostly with what we do or say. The tenth goes straight to the heart:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s household: you shall not set your heart on his wife, his male or female servant, his ox or his donkey, or anything else your neighbor has.” (Exodus 20:17)

To covet is to want something that isn’t yours so much that it takes hold of you. It is not the same as simply wanting things. You can want a new coat because your old one has worn through, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Coveting is wanting that has become a fixation, a restless “if only” that eats away at contentment. It looks at someone else’s house, job, car, holiday or life and says, “I deserve that more than they do.”

What makes covetousness so dangerous is that nobody sees it. You can be arrested for theft. You will never be arrested for coveting. It lives quietly in the heart, and it is perfectly respectable. In fact, much of modern advertising exists to stir it up. We live inside a machine designed to make us discontented.

More than enough

The great Puritan pastor Thomas Watson, writing about the tenth commandment, gave a definition that is hard to improve on. He borrowed it from Augustine, who called covetousness Plus velle quam sat est. In Watson’s words, that means “to desire more than enough.”

More than enough. That is the heart of it. Covetousness is not about having a lot or a little. It is about never being able to say “enough.” A poor person can be eaten up with covetousness. A rich person can be free of it. It is a condition of the heart, not of the bank account.

Solomon knew this from the inside. He was the richest man of his age, and he wrote:

“Whoever loves money never has enough money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with what comes in. This too is a breath.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10)

The word translated “breath” is the famous word of Ecclesiastes, often rendered “vanity” or “meaningless.” It means something that vanishes like your breath on a cold morning. Love of money is a hunger that grows the more you feed it. Bernard of Clairvaux saw the same thing nine hundred years ago: “whatever riches he may have, his nature is to want more.”

Life is not things

One day a man in the crowd called out to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share our father’s property with me” (Luke 12:13). It was a reasonable request. Perhaps the brother was being unfair. But Jesus refused to get involved. Instead, He turned to the crowd:

“Then He said to them, ‘Take care! Keep yourselves from every kind of greed. Even when someone has more than enough, life does not come from the things a person owns.’” (Luke 12:15)

Jesus saw something the man didn’t. Under the legal complaint there was a heart problem. The man thought that if he got his share, his life would be better. Jesus said life doesn’t work that way. Your life is not made up of what you own.

That is the great lie covetousness tells: that the next thing will satisfy. The next promotion, the next house, the next upgrade. And when it comes, it doesn’t. So we look for the next thing after that.

Why covetousness is so serious

Thomas Watson showed that covetousness breaks every one of the Ten Commandments. It breaks the first, because “the covetous man has more gods than one; Mammon is his god.” It breaks the eighth, because it is “the root of theft.” It broke the sixth when King Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard so badly that he let his wife have Naboth killed to get it. It breaks the ninth whenever someone lies to get ahead.

The Bible’s most solemn warning on money comes from Paul:

“Godliness is indeed great gain, when it comes with contentment. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires that drag people down into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

Notice the picture at the end: people who “pierced themselves with many griefs.” Covetousness doesn’t just hurt others. It wounds the person who covets. It costs sleep, relationships, peace and sometimes faith itself.

How to fight it

You can’t fight covetousness by simply trying not to want things. A heart cannot be emptied. It can only be filled with something better. Here are four weapons the Bible gives us.

Gratitude. Covetousness looks at what we don’t have. Gratitude looks at what we do. It is very hard to be thankful and covetous at the same time. Make a habit of naming what God has given you.

Generosity. Giving is the direct opposite of grasping. Every time you open your hand to give, you loosen money’s grip on your heart. That is one reason Paul tells Timothy to command the rich “to give generously and to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).

Guarding your eyes. Achan’s sin started with “I saw.” What are you looking at? Shop windows, catalogues, social media feeds, house listings, all of it can stir up desire. Sometimes the wisest thing is simply to stop looking.

Treasuring God. In the end, covetousness is a worship problem. The heart was made to delight in God, and when it doesn’t, it reaches for other things. Seek more of Him, and you will find you need less of everything else.

A voice from the past

Thomas Watson had a gift for pictures. Here is one of his best:

“As a ferry man takes in so many passengers to increase his fare, that he sinks his boat; so a covetous man takes in so much gold to increase his estate, that he drowns himself in perdition.”

Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments

Practice this week

For one week, notice every time you feel the “if only” of covetousness: when you see someone else’s house, car, holiday, phone or salary and feel a pang. Each time, stop and name one specific thing God has already given you, and thank Him for it. If a certain shop, website or app keeps stirring up discontent, take a break from it for the week.

For groups

• What is the difference between wanting something and coveting it?
• Watson’s definition is “to desire more than enough.” What does “enough” look like for you?
• Read Luke 12:13-15. Why do you think Jesus refused to settle the inheritance dispute?
• Which of the four weapons against covetousness do you most need right now?