Covetousness

The tenth commandment is the one that is most important and most often neglected. “You shall not covet…anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17). This commandment is important because if you are constantly wanting what other people have you will never be happy with your own possessions and life. Covetousness often makes people jealous of their friends and acquaintances, making it hard to maintain the friendship. Those who constantly want what they don’t currently and may never have, never see what is good about their own possessions and therefore are never happy. Even when they do get what they want, they see someone with something better and begin to covet whatever that possession might be. It is a never ending circle of avarice, which is why God warns about it in the tenth commandment and why that commandment is so important.

This commandment is the most neglected today. Everywhere there are advertisements for something that is newer, bigger, better than what you currently possess. With marketing designed to make people want what they do not have the tenth commandment is often ignored without people realizing it. There are shows and articles about celebrities and what they have, which causes people to want products that they will never be able to afford, and a lifestyle that most people will never achieve. The overexposure of the rich is a huge problem that leads to the tenth commandment being neglected and people being dissatisfied with what they have, which is why the tenth commandment is so important. If people did not covet what others have they would be happier and lead a more satisfying life.