Guardrails - Do Not Lie or Covet
No Other Gods.
Do Not Have Idols
Do not misuse God’s name.
Rest on the Sabbath.
Honor your Father and Mother.
Do not Murder.
Do not Commit Adultery.
Do Not Steal.
Do Not Lie.
Do Not Covet.
Today, we look at the ninth and tenth commandment, “Do not lie and do not covet.”
Exodus 20:16-17 (NLT2)
16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor. 17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”
I had been a follower of Jesus for roughly one year, in 1992. I was a construction worker earning about $4.60 an hour, and I needed new contacts. I could not afford an eye examination and contact lenses…so I lied. I changed the date on my written prescription, took it to my eye doctor, and said I needed to order new contacts. As soon as the receptionist looked at my lying prescription – I blurted out…”I am so sorry! Please forgive me! I am a follower of Jesus, and I knew better than that…I don’t have the money to pay for both an examination and contact lenses. I am so sorry. Please forgive me.”
In that moment, I mishandled the truth. I was willing to lie to get what I needed. And thankfully, I couldn’t go through with that lie. The reason we must speak the truth is because:
TRUTH BUILDS TRUST AND PREVENTS CONFUSION
The Apostle Paul challenged the church with these thoughts:
Ephesians 4:25 (NLT2)
25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.
The Church in America has been under the microscope in recent years because of abuse scandals, coverups, and failure to live transparently. In separate studies in 2023, Lifeway Research and Gallup each found that only 32% of Americans had a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence that the “church” could be trusted.
Their research highlights the top reasons why people don’t trust the church:
High-profile cases of sexual abuse, financial misconduct, and cover-ups.
The close association of some churches with Republican or Democrat Parties has eroded the perception of the “moral” voice of the church.
Affirmation of lifestyles that do not line up with Scripture
I was only a few months into my first Pastorate when I discovered that our student pastor, who was loved and respected by the church and the community, had been grooming a female student since she was sixteen years old. Immediately after the young lady turned eighteen, he initiated a physical, digital, and sexual relationship with this young lady. She was in her Senior year of high school, and he was married.
Here is how I handled it:
I talked to him, and he admitted it, and I asked him to resign. Because he was married, we provided 6 months of salary and health insurance and offered counseling. I talked openly with the young lady and her parents and offered counseling from an outside therapist for as long as she wanted it. We called law enforcement. I protected her identity and communicated this to our leadership, staff, and deacons. I protected her identity and met and counseled with all of our student ministry leadership. Then, I met with all student ministry parents, explained what happened, and answered every question. Then, I had a church-wide meeting and addressed it there.
The entire time, the only information I withheld was the young lady's name. I still do to this day. She received over one year of counseling and is now married, raising her children, and pointing them to Jesus.
Why take all of those steps?
Because truth builds trust and prevents confusion. People want to believe the church can be trusted, and the church can only earn trust by telling the truth even when it's hard.
Are you truthful in your relationships? If people do not trust you, it may be because you are not living in the truth.
Now, let’s talk about Coveting.
I grew up Catholic. We were taught the 10 Commandments from a very early age. Because of the language used in the translation, I always believed that the 10th Commandment was the “dirty” commandment.
Exodus 20:17 (KJV)
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Now you see why. I thought this commandment was dealing with adultery! But, here is the truth about this commandment:
COVETING POINTS BACKWARD TO REFLECT AND FORWARD TO GRACE.
In Hebrew, the word “covet” means: “Indulge in thoughts that lead to sin.”
God placed this commandment at the end to point BACKWARD to reflect on the rest of the commandments. When broken, the first nine commandments can be observed by an outward action:
A lie is heard.
People can see theft.
Adultery and murder have clear unmistakable actions.
Honoring parents is visible.
Rest on the Sabbath. Misuse of God’s name, Idolatry, and worship of other Gods can be clearly seen.
But of the 10 Commandments, coveting is the only commandment that addresses what cannot be seen.
God placed this command at the end for us to reflect because this commandment EXPLAINS why we choose to break the other commandments…We break the other Commandments because we “think thoughts that lead to sin.”
The reason why we steal? We think about doing it.
The reason why we lie? We think the truth will get us in trouble.
The reason we commit adultery? We think that person will give us something we don’t have.
The reason we dishonor our parents? We think they should have been better.
The reason we don’t take a sabbath rest? We think we don’t need to.
God placed this commandment strategically after all the others as if to say, “Don’t even think about doing these things.”
The 10th Commandment moves away from measurable sinful actions and enters the secret places of our hearts and thoughts. As we see in the life of Jesus, God is concerned about our hearts and our actions. But if I only ever think about doing the action but never do it, why does it matter to God?
If I only think about murdering somebody but never do it…
If I only think about idolatry, stealing, or disrespecting my parents but never do it, why does God care?
God does not only want our obedience, God wants us to want to follow him. God wants us to be content in him. In 1647, Church leaders got together and came up with a statement that deals with our desires: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
When you find pleasure in obedience to God, and through Christ, ENJOY your life – God is glorified! God doesn’t want us to simply obey him without finding enjoyment, God wants us to obey him and enjoy obeying him. This leads us to the final point:
THE CURE FOR COVETING IS CONTENTMENT FOUND IN JESUS.
The apostle Paul had been beaten, robbed, stoned, left for dead, hungry, homeless, and abandoned…and he faced those challenges because he had TRAINED HIS MIND to be content.
He writes:
Philippians 4:11-13 (ESV)
11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 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. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Contentment is a learned attitude. If we have had enough of the negative thoughts racing through our mind that leads to coveting, we must ask God to help us learn to be CONTENT.
God is RECONDITIONING my heart in this area. When I was a child, I coveted other homes, other families, other siblings, other moms, other dads, others athletic abilities, others grades…I coveted everything. I had grown to such a dark place in my heart because of the abuse I experienced from my dad –
I coveted other people's lives and stuff so much that I became embarrassed of our stuff. My house was not good enough to invite people over. My clothes were not good enough to fit in with groups of kids. The family car was worse than everybody else…I coveted everything.
Since I became a follower of Jesus – I thought that old way of thinking was behind me. It wasn’t. I allowed COVETING to creep into my life as a Pastor. I wanted to have a nice big office like other senior Pastors had. I wanted to have a nice big automobile that other senior Pastors had. I wanted to wear the right clothes and speak correctly, “God Bless you…” “Have a blessed day…”
And that is just over the decade. Coveting is thinking that other things should belong to us…and that is precisely what I have done. Paul tells us we have the capacity to CONTROL our thought life.
Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT)
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
If you desire to experience contentment, which is the peace of God in your life, train your mind to think correctly. Think about OURSELVES less and less. Think of ways to honor others. Think of ways to put into practice what is right and good and honorable and true. Take those negative thoughts captive and put into practice God’s word. I mentioned that this final command points us backward and forward.
The 10 Commandments point us forward to the FORGIVENESS and GRACE of JESUS. I hope you have realized, throughout this series, that it is impossible for you to live your life and never sin. You and I will break these commandments. We will never be able to live a sinless life. That is why God gave us Jesus.
If you have come to the end of TRYING and are ready to TRUST in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, I invite you to silently, in this moment, tell God you are tired of trying to do good and be right on your own, and ask him to forgive you of your sins. Thank Jesus for dying on the cross and paying the penalty for your sin.