Q: What is required in the 10th Commandment?
A: The tenth commandment requires full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor, and all that is his.
Philippians 4:11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
Sometimes I think this commandment is the hardest one to truly keep. Our culture thrives on envy. We are raised in a culture that teaches us to never be satisfied with what we have. In fact, covetousness, the drive to have more than the next person, has in many ways fueled our society. We're constantly looking at what others have and think, "Why should they have X and not me?" We overlook so quickly how the Lord takes care of us day in and day out, becoming dissatisfied with his numerous good gifts, and why? Because our house isn't as big, our car not as new, our bank accounts not as full as the person next to us. And what does that lead to? It leads to us despising our neighbors. Yet this commandment does call us to find contentment in all situations, to be thankful in what the Lord has indeed done for us, and to again, love and be charitable towards our neighbor, regardless of the "income gap" between you.
We need to keep perspective when it comes to this issue. Starr Meade says, "We can be content with our status in life because whatever we have is a gift from God and is more than we deserve." We all need to think about that when we start comparing ourselves to our neighbors, when we begin to feel covetousness and envy creeping into our hearts. We've been given far more than we ever deserve in this world, and even more than our material possessions, we as God's people have been given God himself!