1 Timothy 6:6 KJV
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Covetousness is an inordinate desire for things.
Covetousness is a trap of the enemy, it makes you desirous of things that are not yours or a selfish desire to acquire things.
Covetousness steps in when the desire of a man is not tamed, such a person replaces God with the want for things, and begin to chase after such things at the expense of his or her faith.
The opposite of covetousness is contentment, when you are contempt with what you have, and also maintain a godly life, the Bible says it’s a great gain (1 Timothy 6:6)
God wants us to see him as the source of our blessings, surrendering our all to him and he will supernaturally meet our needs
Hebrews 13:5-6 KJV
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. [6] So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
So, we are admonished to be contempt with what we have, never allow the lust of this world and covetousness to control your desire, if you are to supply all you need, you won’t be able to do so, God is the only one who can give us all we need. He said take no thought for your life, what you will eat, drink or wear, (Matthew 6:25-33) because he knows that you can’t meet all these needs by yourself, you will only invite covetousness to your life that way.
Let’s consider Luke 12:15-21
No matter how much you gather for yourself through greed, see what the bible says about such person:
Luke 12:15 KJV
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
One common attribute of covetousness is self centeredness; a covetousness person hardly thinks about others, all that fills the person’s heart is how to acquire more for him or herself.
But take a look at this parable;
Luke 12:18-19 KJV
And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. [19] And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
This man did not even consider others around him, the poor and needy, the homeless, orphans and people his resources could bless. All he thought about was himself, he wanted to rebuild his barn to store up more goods for himself. But this was God’s reaction to him
Luke 12:20 KJV
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
No wonder Luke 12:15 says a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he has.
God doesn’t bless a man for himself alone, he blesses you to be a blessing, so if you don’t adhere to this, God will take the blessings away.
Have you noticed that you can never satisfy your wants? There is no limit to wants, that is why you shouldn’t allow yourself to be driven by your wants. You might say, if only I can buy that car, I’ll be happy or if only I can get that house, I’ll be happy etc but these things cannot give you total happiness, only God can. So don’t allow covetousness drive you to do what is not pleasing to God.
Covetousness leads to other sins,
If a man covet another woman, it leads to fornication/adultery
If a man covets another person’s property, it can lead to stealing
Covetousness can lead to telling lies, killing, etc. So never give room to covetousness in your life.