Introduction
• For the past few weeks we have looked at practical living step we should take on a daily basis.
• We have looked at avoiding offenses, trust and faith in God and last week we looked at the quality of life.
• When we take offense we stop the blessing flow in our life. We need to pray and choose to do things God’s way. Walk in love.
• We said that faith is confidence in the Word of God. Trust is the commitment to the doing the Word of God.
• Last week we looked at the quality of life. God cares about our happiness. We should be focused on the quality of life, not the quantity. Jesus told us to have an abundant life.
• This week I want us to look at covetousness. Covetousness is greed, a strong desire after the possession of worldly things. It is the mark of cold-hearted worldliness.
• We have to be cautious not to open ourselves up to a spirit of covetousness. Covetousness causes us to be greedy and want what someone else has.
• A wrong attachment to the material things of this world starts with thinking that opposes God’s Word.
• This morning we will look at what the Bible has to say about covetousness so we can begin to apply the principles in order to walk in a blessed life without covetousness.
(NKJV) Exodus 20 17 “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.”
1) We should not covet what is not ours.
a) Shout… I will not covet what is not mine. Shout… I will not get jealous or envious of what other people have.
b) Covetousness is a way of thinking, and acting that causes us to desire things that belong to someone else.
c) The Bible talks about a man who coveted his brother’s inheritance. His way of thinking made him think he had a right to it.
(NKJV) Luke 12 13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” 22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? 29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.
d) Words determine the way we think.
i) The way we think determines the way we believe.
ii) The way we believe determines the words we speak.
iii) The words we consistently speak determine our outcome in life—whether we fail in life or are successful according to God’s principles.
e) We can establish the right mindset by allowing the Word of God to govern our thinking.
i) Right thinking, right believing, and right confession bring us to success in life.
2) Examine our current mindsets.
a) Shout…Holy Spirit help me to examine my thinking.
b) For many of us, our thinking was derived from the world’s way of thinking. That is why many of us are jacked up.
c) We have to be determined to change our thinking so it lines up with God’s Word.
i) When our mindset or thinking contradicts the Word of God, we open ourselves up to covetousness. Desiring what is not ours.
3) Sometimes we are sincere, but sincerely wrong.
a) Shout…Jesus help me to be more like you.
(NKJV) Proverbs 14 12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
b) There are people that believe the ways that contradict God’s Word are right. It’s only because the consequences are not always immediate.
i) However, any way that opposes God’s Word will eventually end in death. (Smoking, drinking, stealing, etc)
ii) Examine those ways that seem right to you but contradict God’s Word.
iii) This is why we have to know what the Word of God says.
(1) Ignorance is very expensive.
c) To walk in the flesh simply means we are operating in a way that opposes God’s Word.
i) Walking in the spirit means we have a mindset that lines up with the Word of God.
4) Change our mindset with the Word of God.
a) Shout…I have the mind of Christ. I am getting my thinking right!
b) When we meditate on God’s Word, we make our way prosperous.
(NKJV) Joshua 1 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
c) Meditating is pondering the Word over and over in our minds.
i) We will either have our minds set on things that line up with the Word or things that do not. This is what causes covetousness – worldly thinking.
ii) Desire the things of God and not of man.
d) To accomplish a desire or succeed in anything, we have to have the right mindset.
i) Therefore, we should examine what we crave.
ii) Beware of covetousness; there is more to life than an abundance of things.
(1) When we have extra, we should bless others instead of hoarding it all for ourselves.
(2) God is always considering the condition of our hearts.
Conclusion
• Don’t be greedy. Let the Lord be the desire of your heart. Rejoice when you neighbor or a friend is blessed.
• Covetousness begins in your thinking. Today ask God to change your mindset from the world to the Word of God.
• What we think effects what we believe. What we believe effects what we say. What we say is what we become like and our life reflects.
• Meditate on the Word of God. Soak it in. Drink in the living Word of God.
• Shout...Jesus; help me to not covet my neighbor’s goods. Help me Jesus to change my thinking to line up with the words you have spoken. I declare I have the mind of Christ. I am blessed to be a blessing in someone else’s life. I will not hoard but bless others. Lord help me not to be jealous or envious of what others possess. Thank you for being my example. I love you Jesus. Amen.
• Let us pray.
