COVETING
Coveting means having a strong but wrong desire to have something that belongs to someone else. It comes from a place of discontent with what you own and a greedy focus on another person's possessions or life. Unfortunately this negative trait has become a socially acceptable virtue.
The most disturbing to me was the open approval from politicians and the media. Condemnation of this behavior was not to be found. Coveting or jealousy was never mentioned in any reporting or commentary. The negative focus was on the people with the wealth not those who were threatening violence against them.
The wealthy do have a responsibility to follow the law and be descent human beings, most do but some don't. This does not justify judging them all as greedy and corrupt and certainly does not justify more greed, corruption and violence.
However as attitudes kept shifting almost every new movement was focused on the unfairness of the system and greed. As time went on politicians campaigned openly about not only the unfairness but the actual confiscation of wealth through taxes and the taking of property and businesses.
Until today I have not heard one mention of the negative effects of coveting. They openly divide people by wealth, poverty, skin color, gender, location, education, religion, politics, legal status, ethnic background, sexual orientation and so on.
All of these have virtuous messaging but the underlying purpose was to divide, create jealousy and stir hatred. Coveting destroys personal peace by breeding deep discontentment, devalues other people, and acts as a hidden root that drives destructive behavior like theft, betrayal, and dishonesty.
I sometimes hear the question "How could the German people support the holocaust?" A look back through history tells us, it started with coveting. Nazi leaders spoke a similar message that the Jews should get what they deserve because they have too much wealth and the way they got it was they stole it from you. Therefore we can take it and punish them for having it. Eventually they were dehumanized which opened the door for unspeakable acts of torture and murder.
Today charismatic political leaders spur this behavior on by catering to our lower human natures. They justify discontent jealousy and hatred. They put blame for their problems on other groups or individuals.
Before the first broken window of Kristallnacht there was coveting. For many years America has moved far beyond broken windows.
BLM riots summer of 2020
Rampant shop lifting and looting in most major US cities.
Murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson
( many people praised the murderer )
I could go on and on pointing out these things but turn on the TV or scroll the internet the examples are everywhere. What strikes me the most is the lack of a message of basic decency and common sense. We
teach our children not to be jealous, or do we?
We have been on a slippery slope for decades. There are many factors that attribute to this the lack of a of guilt, coveting is only one.
What was unheard of decades ago became tolerated then encouraged. Today there is a full throated call for actions and absolutely no condemnation or word of caution. I'm not sure where this ends but our savior is not a political party, a charismatic leader, a new law or program it begins and ends in the human heart.
The news by nature reports the bad not the good. The media simply amplifies these negative messages and thrives on division. It is easy to destroy and divide but it takes God to heal, I will not sign on to hopelessness and despair God still controls our destiny and I think He has a lot more for us to do. Revival comes in dark times and will happen in secret.
