Lutheranism 101 - Part 17 - The Ninth and Tenth Commandments

I knew a guy in college that always had to have what everyone else had. If you bought a watch he would buy one just like it. If you bought a camera, he would buy a camera, even if he never used it. He coveted everything that everyone else had. He was a big breaker of the Ninth Commandment.
Both the Ninth and Tenth Commandments have to do with coveting. Coveting is having a sinful desire for anyone or anything that belongs to your neighbor. It is not wrong to want things and even to get things. But it is wrong to try to get things from your neighbor that you don't need. Coveting also involves a sinful desire. You just have to have it, even though you really don't need it and you will do illegal or immoral things to get it.
God wants us to be content with the things that he has given us and he wants us to help our neighbor keep his own stuff.
The Ninth and Tenth Commandments although talking about the same sin, stress different things that we covet. The Ninth Commandment which says, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house", has to do with material possessions. It has to with things like our neighbor's house, his car or anything materially he owns.
The Tenth Commandment which says, "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor", has to do with living things that belong to your neighbor. You should not look for ways to have an affair with your neighbor's wife, or to steal his employees or other people that help him.
We also have to remember who our neighbor is here. It is not just the guy living next door, but everyone that we come into contact with in life. Everyone is our neighbor. God tells us to be satisfied with what we have and if we want more to ask him, and seek it in good moral and legal ways.

Here are some verses for you: Romans 7:8; Matthew 15:19; Micah 2:1-2; 1 Timothy 6:8-10; Philippians 4:11; 1 Timothy 6:6; Hebrews 13:5; 1 Kings 21:1-16; Acts 20:32-35; Luke 12:5; Colossians 3:5; 2 Samuel 11:2-4; 2 Samuel 15:1-6; Philippians 2:4; Genesis 3:6; James 1:14-15; Psalm 37:4; Psalm 119:35-36; Philippians 4:8

Pastor Fred