Do Not Covet

In Australia we aspire to own our own house.
Is that a bad thing?

Well, kinda. It depends.
What kind of house do you want?
What kind of house can you afford?
What else are you sacrificing to get it?

Most Australians only seem content when they have a big, impressive house which they can show off when others visit. It’s a huge status symbol.
Typically now it will cost well in excess of a million dollars.

What else could you do with a million dollars?
Anything of eternal value?

Many Australians live cash poor lives. Such a huge percentage of their income goes to repay the massive mortgage on their status symbol house that they can’t afford to do anything. No eating out. No travel. No fun times. No experiences being built into their kids’ lives. And no giving generously to God.

Not everyone of course.

Many of those who don’t do this wish they could though. They only don’t own the “house of their dreams” because they just can’t afford it. They dream of winning lotto, or somehow, one day, having enough to afford to live like the people they envy.

But that’s just coveting.
That’s forbidden.
God hates it.

God wants us to be content with what he has given us.
Not to chase after what our neighbours and friends have so we don’t miss out.

Some people bought their house before the prices skyrocketed to their current crazy heights. Are you one of those? Do you give way more to God because of your abundance? Or do you spend yours on yourself?

Or do you put it all into your superannuation so you can still live comfortably when you retire at 50?
How about your car? New? Flashy? Luxury SUV?
Got two?

Why?
Why did you buy the house you bought?
Why did you buy the cars you bought?
Why are you so fixated on having great stuff that other people can see?

We even train our kids right from the time they’re young. We collect all those little plastic toys from the supermarket. We let them get caught up in the craze. We even change our spending habits so we can feed our children’s addiction to these toys.
So we can feed our children’s coveting. Their jealousy. Their greed. Their materialism.
Is that really good parenting? To feed your children’s sin?

We’re actively preparing the next generation to be even more self focused, more coveting, more driven by greed.
Preparing them to be consumers who will buy bigger and better than we did, and spend all their time and money worshipping materialism instead of sacrificing everything they have for the advancement of the kingdom of Yeshua.

In 1 Timothy 6, Paul writes, “devoutness with contentment is a means of great gain”

We need to stop coveting. We need to be content. We need to be training our children to be content. The world is constantly working against us on this. We need to prepare them for that battle. We need to say “no” if that is what it takes. We need to model not coveting. And we need to actively train them to resist.

Yeshua said, “you cannot serve God and mammon”.
He didn’t say “should not”, he said, “can not”.
Which one did you choose?
Which one will your kids choose?


	Do Not Covet
READING 1 Timothy 6 Exodus 20 Matthew 6 We need to stop coveting. We need to be content. We need to be training our children to be content.	In Australia we aspire to own our own house. Is that a bad thing? Well, kinda. It depends. What kind of house do you want? What kind of house can you afford? What else are you sacrificing to get it? Most Australians only seem content when they have a big, impressive house which they can show off when others visit. It’s a huge status symbol. Typically now it will cost well in excess of a million dollars. What else could you do with a million dollars? Anything of eternal value? Many Australians live cash poor lives. Such a huge percentage of their income goes to repay the massive mortgage on their status symbol house that they can’t afford to do anything. No eating out. No travel. No fun times. No experiences being built into their kids’ lives. And no giving generously to God. Not everyone of course. Many of those who don’t do this wish they could though. They only don’t own the “house of their dreams” because they just can’t afford it. They dream of winning lotto, or somehow, one day, having enough to afford to live like the people they envy. But that’s just coveting. That’s forbidden. God hates it. God wants us to be content with what he has given us. Not to chase after what our neighbours and friends have so we don’t miss out. Some people bought their house before the prices skyrocketed to their current crazy heights. Are you one of those? Do you give way more to God because of your abundance? Or do you spend yours on yourself? Or do you put it all into your superannuation so you can still live comfortably when you retire at 50? How about your car? New? Flashy? Luxury SUV? Got two? Why? Why did you buy the house you bought? Why did you buy the cars you bought? Why are you so fixated on having great stuff that other people can see? We even train our kids right from the time they’re young. We collect all those little plastic toys from the supermarket. We let them get caught up in the craze. We even change our spending habits so we can feed our children’s addiction to these toys. So we can feed our children’s coveting. Their jealousy. Their greed. Their materialism. Is that really good parenting? To feed your children’s sin? We’re actively preparing the next generation to be even more self focused, more coveting, more driven by greed. Preparing them to be consumers who will buy bigger and better than we did, and spend all their time and money worshipping materialism instead of sacrificing everything they have for the advancement of the kingdom of Yeshua. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul writes, “devoutness with contentment is a means of great gain” We need to stop coveting. We need to be content. We need to be training our children to be content. The world is constantly working against us on this. We need to prepare them for that battle. We need to say “no” if that is what it takes. We need to model not coveting. And we need to actively train them to resist. Yeshua said, “you cannot serve God and mammon”. He didn’t say “should not”, he said, “can not”. Which one did you choose? Which one will your kids choose?