Covetousness is desiring something so much that we lose our contentment in God. It's not wrong to desire something as long as it's not competing with our deep contentment in God but rather serving our contentment in God. Covetousness is our losing contentment in God so that we start to replace God with something else in our desires and contentment. [00:02:40] Making vertical captioned clip



The first commandment: you shall have no other gods before me. If you do that, what's it called? Idolatry, right? So don't have any other gods before me, and I could easily add before me in what sense? In your desires, in your allegiance, in your affections, what you're satisfied by. [00:03:30] Making vertical captioned clip



Covetousness is a failure to obey the first commandment, not just the last commandment. I think the first and last commandment are the same commandment stated in two different ways. Don't have any other gods that compete with me in your affections. Don't covet means don't have any other gods that compete with me in your affections. [00:04:38] Making vertical captioned clip



I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Now there it is, I am free from covetousness. I am content. I'm not after your money. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. I can abound without losing my contentment in God, and I can be at a loss without losing my contentment in God. [00:06:39] Making vertical captioned clip



I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger. Lots of people who get rich lose their contentment in God and shift their contentment onto their plenty, and lots of people who go hungry lose their contentment in God and start blaming him for not feeding them. I have learned how to have abundance and need without losing my contentment. [00:07:31] Making vertical captioned clip



Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. So I already have decided everything that I might lose is already loss in comparison with knowing Jesus. That's how much Christ is worth, and we need to get our hearts into a frame which treasures Jesus this much. [00:08:36] Making vertical captioned clip



For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, count them as rubbish even in order that I might gain Christ. So that's the first answer: Christ Himself, knowing Christ himself, is more precious than keeping anything. [00:09:31] Making vertical captioned clip



My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory. He's a very rich God. He's never at a loss to meet the needs of his children in Christ Jesus. What is a need? Not every want, not every desire, but every need. What is a need? I would say a need is whatever you have to have in order to do God's will and to glorify God. [00:09:57] Making vertical captioned clip



Keep your life free from the love of money or you might say covetousness. Keep your life free from coveting and be content. There it is. Oh, how sweet it is when we're not craving money or fame, praise of man, but especially money in this case. Keep your life free from the love of money, be content with what you have. [00:11:24] Making vertical captioned clip



He has said, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you. Therefore, we can confidently say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. I will not fear any loss of money. What can man do to me? And of course, the answer is they can kill you, they can take away your house, they can kill your children. [00:12:11] Making vertical captioned clip



Man can't do anything that God doesn't permit them to do, and he will meet every need that you have no matter what they do. Saying what can man do to me? Nothing that God doesn't permit them to do for my good, and he'll never leave me, he'll never forsake me. Those two things are the ground of contentment. [00:12:31] Making vertical captioned clip



We kill the sin of covetousness by believing God's promises. This is a matter of faith in God's promises that God will provide whatever we need to do his will and to give Him glory. We kill the sin of covetousness, we overcome it, we sever its roots by being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us through Jesus Christ. [00:13:12] Making vertical captioned clip

This is session 9 in our series of battling unbelief, and we're focusing on the power of faith or belief to kill sin.

We've already looked in our early lessons at how this belief or faith in God's promises produces love and holiness, and now we're focusing on the killing of various sins, like in this case, covetousness.

So how does faith or belief kill covetousness, or what kinds of unbelief lie behind covetousness that we need to overcome by faith?

Father, your son Jesus had more to say about money and its possibilities and dangers than he did about sex or almost anything else, and there's a reason for that. I pray that you would expose us now to that danger and potential, and that you would protect us from covetousness by assuring us deep in our hearts that you provide for us, care for us, and be everything we need. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's define it. I'm going to 1 Timothy 6 for a definition.

Paul is referring to a certain kind of people here who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. These are people who don't care about godliness; they care about money and are using the Church or religion to get their money.

Then Paul says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.

So I'm going to define covetousness in regard to this issue of contentment like this: covetousness is desiring something so much that we lose our contentment in God. It's not wrong to desire something as long as it's not competing with our deep contentment in God but rather serving our contentment in God.

Or let's put it another way: covetousness is our losing contentment in God so that we start to replace God with something else in our desires and contentment.

Now, to buttress that understanding, look at the Ten Commandments. I only have the first one and the last one, and there's a reason for that.

So Exodus 20, verse 3: "You shall have no other gods before me." If you do that, what's it called? Idolatry, right? So don't have any other gods before me.

I could easily add "before me" in what sense? In your desires, in your allegiance, in your affections, what you're satisfied by.

Then the last commandment: "Don't covet." That is, don't desire anything so much that you lose your contentment in God as your supreme God.

You see the connection there? Covetousness is a failure to obey the first commandment, not just the last commandment. I think the first and last commandment are the same commandment stated in two different ways: don't have any other gods that compete with me in your affections.

Don't covet means don't have any other gods that compete with me in your affections. Don't desire anything inordinately that is in competition with me.

Now, is there a confirmation of that understanding of the Ten Commandments anywhere else? Here's Colossians 3:5: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry."

There it is. So disobeying the first commandment, "Don't have any other gods before me," is idolatry, and Paul says covetousness is idolatry. Therefore, disobeying the tenth and the first commandment are both idolatry, which means that the first and the tenth are both saying the same thing.

I think that's how covetousness ranks above all the other sins that could be mentioned in verse 10, which is verse 17, along with this first and great prohibition.

How then shall we conquer covetousness? How shall we have a contentment in God that keeps us from desiring anything that competes with God?

Here are a few passages that tell us how. Philippians 4:11-13: "Not that I'm speaking of being in need." Paul was very skittish about wanting to appear as though he were in the ministry for their money. "I'm not speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content."

Now there it is: I am free from covetousness. I am content. I'm not after your money. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. I can abound without losing my contentment in God, and I can be at a loss without losing my contentment in God.

In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger. Lots of people who get rich lose their contentment in God and shift their contentment onto their plenty, and lots of people who go hungry lose their contentment in God and start blaming Him for not feeding them.

I have learned how to have abundance and need without losing my contentment. "I can do all things," and all things there includes being hungry and being brought low. Sometimes we read that verse and say, "You know, all things only applies to big triumphant things."

Actually, "I can do all things" includes going hungry. I can even die through Him who strengthens me.

Now, how does Christ strengthen Paul in such a way that he doesn't lose his contentment, whether he's low or abounding, whether he has plenty or hunger?

There are two ways. Here's one, and here's the other. Philippians 3:8: "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

So I have already decided everything that I might lose is already loss in comparison with knowing Jesus. That's how much Christ is worth, and we need to get our hearts into a frame that treasures Jesus this much so that if we lose anything, we don't lose our contentment because we have Christ, who is infinitely more valuable than anything.

"For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, even in order that I might gain Christ."

So that's the first answer: Christ Himself, knowing Christ Himself, is more precious than keeping anything.

Then chapter 4, verse 19: "My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory." He's a very rich God; He's never at a loss to meet the needs of His children in Christ Jesus.

What is a need? Not every want, not every desire, but every need. What is a need? I would say a need is whatever you have to have in order to do God's will and to glorify God.

And that does not mean you have to have food or you have to have clothing; you don't, or you have to have life; you don't. Back in chapter 1, verses 20-21, Paul talks about two dies: "To die is gain."

So what we do need is we want to do God's will; we want to glorify God whether we live or whether we die. These are non-negotiables, so that's my definition of need.

One more passage: this is an awesome passage to memorize. "Keep your life free from the love of money," or you might say covetousness. "Keep your life free from coveting and be content."

There it is. Oh, how sweet it is when we're not craving money or fame, praise of man, but especially money in this case.

"Keep your life free from the love of money; be content with what you have."

And then here is the indispensable ground: "For He has said, 'I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.'"

Therefore, we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear." I will not fear any loss of money. What can man do to me?

And of course, the answer is they can kill you; they can take away your house; they can kill your children. They can't do anything against you successfully. Ultimately, they can't damn you; they can't rob you of your forgiveness of sins; they can't rob you of your eternal life.

Man can't do anything that God doesn't permit them to do, and He will meet every need that you have no matter what they do.

And saying, "What can man do to me?" Nothing that God doesn't permit them to do for my good, and He'll never leave me; He'll never forsake me.

Those two things are the ground of contentment, and contentment is the opposite of the love of money or covetousness.

Therefore, we kill the sin of covetousness by believing God's promises. This is a matter of faith in God's promises that God will provide whatever we need to do His will and to give Him glory.

That is, we kill the sin of covetousness; we overcome it; we sever its roots by being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us through Jesus Christ.

This is the great battle: to be satisfied in God, to be content in Him through Jesus Christ. Oh, what a sweet way to live! May God work it in us.

Subject: Finding True Contentment: Overcoming Covetousness Through Faith



Dear Desiring God,



I hope my email finds you reflecting on the power of faith to kill sin, particularly covetousness, as we continue our series on battling unbelief. In last Sunday’s sermon, we explored how covetousness is a deep-seated desire that competes with our contentment in God. We learned that true contentment comes from recognizing that God provides for our needs and that knowing Christ is far more valuable than anything we might desire. By believing in God's promises, we can sever the roots of covetousness and find satisfaction in Him alone.



As we move forward, I encourage you to examine your own desires and consider what might be competing with your affections for God. Are there things in your life that you desire so much that they overshadow your contentment in Him? Let us strive to treasure Christ above all else, knowing that He will supply every need according to His riches in glory, and may we find our true satisfaction in Him.



Blessings,

Desiring God Team