Desiring something creates a focus to obtain and provides extra motivation to acquire that which is difficult to possess. Yet, desire unrestrained can be threatening to others and even dangerous. Therefore, God put parameters on our passions— constraining them from hindering our relationships.
Ex 20:17 says, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." This is one of two commands, among the ten, that concentrates solely on the heart.
Covetousness, the desiring of that which belongs to another, is the root of theft. It’s difficult to discern and once it manifests, the damage is usually already done. It reduces relationships to the value of things possessed by the more endowed and it distracts one’s focus away from Provider God and centers it on the material.
We must yank the reigns of our heart any time we feel ourselves being captured by that which is another’s. Pull hard by remembering that this is a great way to live right and live well…
