5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
be without covetousness [greed];
The desire to acquire more and more is “covetousness.” This includes lust for money, but it also involves undue desire for anything. Covetousness is inordinate desire. It seeks satisfaction in things other than God and His Word. The command “not to covet” requires moderation (Ex 20:17; Ro 7:7).
PRINCIPLE:
The inward motions of sin are deceptive.
APPLICATION:
Covetousness is the obsession with wanting more. These people can never acquire enough; they always want more. They constantly think about things they want. This is what occupies their attention. It makes no difference whether they acquire them or not, but this is their focus in life; they always want something that they do not have (Eccl 5:10). The more they acquire, the more they want. Material things can never satisfy the soul.
The argument of our verse is not that it is wrong to possess wealth. The problem is the “love of money” that spins off all kinds of problems (1 Ti 6:10). It is the trust in wealth that makes it sinful.
We detect some sins better than others. Covetousness is challenging to see because it lies within the heart (Lu 12:15; Co 3:5; Ps 119:36).
