The Desire for Esteem – The Tenth Commandment

The Desire for Esteem

Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21

“And you shall not covet…”

Acts 5:1, 2

But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Be careful whom you want to impress.

Ananias did not covet material things. He seems to have been quite enough well off. He didn’t desire sensual gratification, or, at least, that doesn’t seem to be the focus here, if he did. Here what he wanted was for others to think highly of him, like they did Barnabas. He wanted to be seen as a generous guy, selfless and giving to the needs of the community. A real saint. So, together with his wife, he contrived this plot that would have him imitating Barnabas’ action, but without so much personal loss. His covetousness led to lying to God and brought him under the judgment of the Lord. People who talk about themselves, or who try to dominate every conversation, want others to think more highly of them than they should. They covet the esteem of others so that they will be regarded more highly than their peers. This is contrary to God’s purposes for our lives, for He calls us to esteem others better than ourselves and to lower ourselves to serve the needs of others. When we covet attention, esteem, or notoriety, we actually say to God, “I’m not satisfied with your way of being a Christian, and I’m going to do things my way.” Make sure you know what you’re doing, and where such hubris can lead.

How does this desire for esteem creep into your life? How can you learn to recognize it and check it?

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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.