Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking at our home church, Discovery Baptist. You can watch the entire sermon here, which the podcast below is based on.
This time of year it’s all around us; the temptation to make your life better by obtaining a product or a service that promises to revolutionize the way you feel and who you are!
God simply calls it covetousness! In this week’s podcast I talk about what it means to covet and give you five signs that can indicate that you are coveting.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:37 — 25.3MB) | Embed
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You can now hear the podcast on Stitcher or on iTunes head on over to your favorite one and while you’re there don’t forget to leave a rating and review!
Announcements
When I recorded this podcast we had 7 new supporters but by the time I got ready to post this we already gained another supporter! That means we have 8 new supporters for the month of November! Praise the Lord!
Go here to join our support team and help us reach the goal of 9 new supporters this month.
Go here to give a special Thanksgiving gift to our ministry.
Listener Questions
Carlos asked:
Right now are there people in heaven and people in hell?
Pam asked:
God loves us unconditionally. Are we capable of loving Him back the same way?
The 10th Commandment
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male slave, or his slave-girl, or his ox, or his ass, or anything which belongs to your neighbor. Exodus 20:17
Coveting = the strong desire to obtain something that God has not given you!
“Do not covet” is the only commandment that can only be broken on a heart level.
Paul calls covetousness idolatry
Then put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust, and covetousness, which is idolatry Colossians 3:5
Coveting was part of the first sin. Adam and Eve coveted the only thing God didn’t give them. They believed the lie that God did not have their best interests in mind and that he was withholding something good from them.
5 signs you are coveting
1. When you spend money you don’t have for things you don’t need.
2. When you purchase things you don’t need because they are on sale for a limited time.
3. When you complain about things like your house, your spouse or your job to others.
4. When you use phrases like “if I only had…” or “what I wouldn’t give for…”
5. When you can not genuinely be happy for a someone who has experienced a success in an area where you have struggled.
The solution to coveting is contentment and godliness
“But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1Timothy 6:6-12
When we exchange our desire for things and status and replace them with God we give ourselves a whole new pursuit, God becomes our greatest desire and coveting disappears.
Question: What other signs of coveting have you seen? What other Scriptures speak about about how we ought to pursue God instead of things?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:37 — 25.3MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS
floyd
November 26, 2013I think envy is the descendant of the core issue of this fallen world and the one thing that plagues this world in it’s fallen nature; selfishness. It’s the root of all sin and one we all struggle with even when we know as Christians that the act of selfishness only makes matters worse. “The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
Caleb
November 27, 2013Right on Floyd! Envy is at the core and it’s sneaky too, so often we don’t even realize how it is destroying our heart! Thanks for the input!
Stephen Haggerty
November 27, 2013I think you’ve pretty much covered the signs! I’m also with you on the solution. In fact I tried it the other day. I was pretty disgruntled with the world and my lot in general, and only wanted to complain. Instead I made a point to only give encouragement and things I’m blessed with, and as cheesy as it might sound, it totally changed my attitude.
Caleb
November 27, 2013Isn’t amazing how such a little thing can make such a huge difference in our attitude? Blessings to you Stephen as you celebrate Thanksgiving!