Benjamin Franklin once asked a question and answered it himself, saying, “Who is rich? He that is content. And who is that? No one.” I think he’s right.
But discontent is different from desire, which is the want for something more or different than what we have. Desire isn’t always bad. It has been the impetus for some great discoveries, like America. It’s been the incentive for great inventions, like the microchip. It’s been the motivation for great social movements, like the abolition of slavery. All of those things came about because people were dissatisfied with the status quo.
However, dissatisfaction can also be the foundation for sin. In fact, it’s the foundation of just about every sin on the list of Ten Commandments, and I think that’s why God saved this commandment for last in Exodus 20:17: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”
What does it mean to covet? It’s not the same as desire. Desire can lead us to godly pursuits. Our desire for food motivates us to work, our desire for protection leads us to seek shelter, and our desire for companionship leads us to the relationships we need in life.
But covetousness is desire that has gone awry.
