Dementia for 2

We are finally at the 10th commandment! I hope by now we all have a better understanding of the 10 commandments and how they still apply to us today.

The 10 commandment states: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Ex. 20:17)

To covet means to wish, long for, or crave something that belongs to another. When we covet, a lot of other emotions are involved that can lead to greater sin in our lives. In this day and age of more, more, more, it can be a daunting task to keep from coveting the things of others. We all want to be "The Jones'".

This commandment deals with our heart and mind towards the people in our lives. When we feel we deserve what another has, it changes the way we feel and act towards that person. We should rejoice at someones success in life. We should desire that our presence in their lives be a reflection of Christ and His love for them. I know from personal experience, just how difficult it can be to rejoice at another's success. If you have a difficult relationship to begin with, it can be almost impossible. The key is to remember what God has blessed you with and then you can see that He has not left you out in the blessings of life. God knows what you can handle in any situation be it success or turmoil.

Pastor James MacDonald has said that if you draw a breath you should thank God. If you see a sunset, have a house, job, healthy family, you should be thanking God. When you look at your life in this manner, you see just what God has truly given you.

This week our assignment is to look at how we think of the people in our lives. Do we desire what they have in life? Are we truly happy for their success? What about how we look at our own lives? Are we truly thankful for what we have? Do we acknowledge what God has blessed us with small and large?

I hope that we are all able to view our heart and mind towards others more in the manner that Christ would have us do after this self-examination. I have listed some verses below for you to peruse at your leisure concerning this commandment.

Next week we will wrap up the 10 commandments and put them all together to enable us to better understand how we are to apply them to our lives today.

Tenth Commandment: Luke 12:15-21; Romans 7:7-8; 13:9; Ephesians 5:3, 5.
Hebrews 13:5
1 Peter 2:1
Colossians 3:5
Matthew 6:19,25-26