Not Strong Desire, but Wrong Desire – The Tenth Commandment

Not Strong Desire, but Wrong Desire

Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21

“And you shall not covet…”

Romans 7:7

What shall we say then? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

To desire is human.

To desire is human. Every human being harbors and nurtures desires of one kind or another. Desire is that affection that causes us to incline toward something external to us and, by various actions, to move toward the realization or attainment of that toward which we are inclined. It’s not wrong to desire. Indeed, there are many things in the life of faith which we must learn to desire strongly, more than anything else in life – to glorify God in our lives, to lay aside the old ways of the world and the flesh, to increase in holiness, to attain our heavenly home, and much more. The cultivation of right desires – the improvement of our hearts – is one of the most important things we have to work on every day. But we must be careful, for desire can be hijacked by the enemy of our souls and turned to covetousness. Covetousness is not strong desire, but wrong desire, desiring the wrong things or desiring things in the wrong way. As a young man, Paul was driven to succeed in his chosen field. He desired the esteem of his elders and the admiration of his contemporaries. But these desires led him into conflict with the Lord, Who, by His grace, showed Paul his error and set his desires on a right path. May He do the same for us as we investigate the various forms of covetousness.

What do you strongly desire in life? What drives you to keep going forward, moving in a specific direction? Are you sure that your desires are what God intends?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.