Ten Words #10: Curb Your Desire

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"You shall not covet." The final word in the Ten Commandments loops us back to the first words. This command points once again to the primary question of the Decalogue. Can we be content with serving God and God alone? Or do we feel that we need to take matters into our own hands, placing ourselves on the throne of glory?

Desire can be good. It can push us to perform well, to expand our skills, and to accomplish things that require extra effort. God made the world good. It's filled with pleasant things that are delightful to see, touch and taste. Texts such as Song of Songs highlight the inherent beauty of relationships and the passion that accompanies them. This is a good world that God made, and we should enjoy it.

But desire slips from healthy and good to deadly and evil when we fail to control it. Desire becomes evil when it infringes on the rights of others, or when it harms our neighbor. In opposition to what some evolutionary scientists seem to think, desire should not always be acted upon. We are not free to do as we choose—or as nature might incline us.

We must understand the limits of desire and place our appetites under the Lordship of God. When we give desire a free reign, we forget that we are guests in our Master's house. Our lives are not our own. We should not seek to acquire everything that is beautiful, pleasurable or desirable. The 10th Word teaches that some things are off limits.

Uncurbed desire does more than harm our neighbor. It breaks our relationship with God and places us in jeopardy of becoming idolaters. An unchecked appetite prevents gratitude for what we already have. And it blocks the memory of how bad things used to be, opening the door for unhealthy feelings of nostalgia to grow within us, making us feel entitled to more than we need.

To put it succinctly, the simple life is often better than the complex life. As Paul said, "For I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (Phil 4:11-13). As we conclude this series of meditations on the Ten Commandments, I pray that we find the ability to be content with serving God and with receiving the good gifts being poured out into our lives.

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