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The ten commandments begin with keeping your heart right before God, loving him supremely. They end with keeping your heart right before God by avoiding the emotional snares and temptations of this world.

 “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 ESV) 

God takes the sin of covetousness so seriously that he puts it in his “Top 10!” If it were a list on the old David Letterman Show, this would be one with a great impact (“always leave them wanting more,” they tell you in show biz). Yet, we tend to relegate the sin as an afterthought. If you ask the average man on the street to list the ten commandments, they will not likely think of the all-important #10.

John Piper, writing for Crossway, discusses 5 warnings against covetousness, and gives us two weapons to use against it. You can read his full article by clicking  --> here <--  

(1) Covetousness never brings satisfaction

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:10 ESV)

(2)  Covetousness chokes off spiritual life

“And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19 ESV)

(3) Covetousness spawns many other sins

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10 ESV)

(4) Covetousness lets you down when you need help the most

for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. (1 Timothy 6:7-8 ESV)

(5) Covetousness destroys the soul

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. (1 Timothy 6:9 ESV)

We battle this sin that so easily besets our hearts through the Word of God. 

Here is your guiding principle:

Incline my heart to your testimonies,
    and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
    and give me life in your ways. (Psalm 119:36-37 ESV)

From there, here are two key passages you can use to fight off the temptation to covet:

But godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6 ESV)

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.” 6 So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper;
    I will not fear;
what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6 ESV)

You can also listen to a podcast with Melissa Kruger, Courtney Doctor, and Jackie Hill Perry (for TCG), on the same topic, by clicking --> here  <--