The Bible says for us to conduct ourselves in a manner that is without covetousness. What does that mean? Covetousness is feeling or showing a very strong desire for something that you do not have and especially for something that belongs to someone else. Do you covet what belongs to another?
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Notice in the Scripture above there is a semi-colon, instead of a period or comma, between the first and second clause. A semi-colon indicates a shift in thought, but also is an indication that the first clause is strongly related to the second clause. So we see, "let your conduct be without covetousness (semicolon indicating the next clause is related to the previous one) and be content with such things as you have. Those who covet are discontent people. They are not content with the things they have. They cannot be satisfied or thankful for what they got. They are always focused on what they do not have, to the point of dissatisfaction with life in general. So, how do we get rid of discontentment? We do so by being content and thankful for what we already have in this life.
Notice also that after the second clause there is a colon before the third clause of this sentence. You can use a colon to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes, sharpens, or explains the first. So after the 'colon' in the Scripture above the writer of Hebrews is summarizing, sharpening and explaining what he means by 'do not covet'. His explanation is simply this: for it is written I will never leave you nor forsake you. We don't have to covet the things that we desire, God has promised to never leave or forsake us, that means I can be content and happy right where I am, right in the situation I am in. You can boldly say, "The Lord is my helper."
This Scripture is talking about coveting what others have in the beginning, and then the end of the next verse says, "I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Why add that into the next verse? Because a lot of the time we are coveting, it is because we are afraid of what people will say if we don't have stuff as nice as what they got. We feel like we will be looked down upon, or not fit into the right circles, or social gatherings unless we got the right 'stuff.'
James 4:3 You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it upon your lusts.
One of the ways that we ask amiss is when we are just wanting stuff so that we can be like everyone else, or fit into the right clubs and societies. When what we have will serve us fine, but we just want something better so that we can be seen with it. When we gauge our own self worth by the things we have and the things we acquire.
Don't let what you don't have steal your happiness from you. How can an object that is not in your hand, or a person that is not where you are steal your joy and your happiness? After all, why let something that doesn't exist for you, steal your joy and peace? That is like chasing the whirlwind, and never being able to grasp it. I made up my mind a long time ago not to let someone or something that DOES not exist in my life make me miserable. If I can take the things that I do have and find happiness and contentment what else do I need. One thing is for sure, if I do need something else, God said he would never leave me or forsake me, He will supply all that I need.
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