### *“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.  But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” -* 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 (NKJV)

*“He created us all the same.”*

That was one of the first thoughts that came to mind after reading this passage in 1 Corinthians.

There is a connection between these verses and coveting here. But here’s another point, first: As Christians, sometimes we get a little ahead of ourselves. So far ahead with our “righteousness”… that we leave the Kingdom behind.

This realization weighs heavy on the heart. Are we here to isolate ourselves with other believers? No. Not at all. For we’ve all come short ([Romans 3:23](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A23&version=NIV)).

That’s what these verses are telling us.

We’re so concerned with not spending any of our time fraternizing with worldly people, that we’ve deserted them. Who, then, can introduce them to eternal life through salvation? If not us, then whom?

Leaving someone behind, no matter what they believe, sounds a lot more like being an unbeliever, without love, than it does being a follower of Christ.

As followers, sometimes we lose ourselves in the blanket of our salvation, that we don’t see where we sin, or where we have room for correction. We lose ourselves in such piousness, that we’d rather turn a blind eye to the unfair way a Christian friend accumulated their wealth, than to eat lunch with our coworker who says he doesn’t believe in God.

No one is holy but the Lord.

Your coworker doesn’t believe, but he spends his time volunteering at a homeless shelter every weekend. And your brother in Christ has lied, cheated, and stolen, all for the mansion on the beach he’s always wanted.

Which one can you see the goodness of God through?

There is no salvation for us when we revile unbelievers ([1 Corinthians 6:9-10](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A9-10&version=NIV)). And there is no salvation for coveters like our friends ([Ephesians 5:3 & 5](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A3-5&version=NIV)).

King David said it best in the book of Psalms: *The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want* ([Psalm 23:1](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+23%3A1&version=NIV)). Whenever we read “shall” in the Bible, we know it is a surety that it will come to pass. It’s more binding than the word “will.”

### God cares more about our needs. And when we choose to love Him, He provides for our needs so that we __shall__ not want.

The Holy Spirit has a way of filling our hearts with joy so much that we have no room for want. And that’s why our Father commands us not to covet. Not to want for anything ([Exodus 20:17](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A17&version=NIV); [Deuteronomy 5:21](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+5%3A21&version=NIV)). When we leave room for want in our lives, we lose the capacity to see that we can turn to Him for any- and everything we need. When we leave room in our hearts to depend on material things this world provides, we leave no room for trusting that the Lord will multiply. And we minimize what God desires to maximize in our lives. We diminish His indescribable power and might. We lose perspective. And we lose sight of the Kingdom.

If there’s anyone in the Bible we can learn from, it’s Paul. Paul showed us that the opposite of covetousness is contentment ([Philippians 4:11-12](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4%3A11-12&version=NIV)). Yet, through his contentment, he did not look after the silver and gold ([Deuteronomy 7:25](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+7%3A25&version=NIV)) and still inherited all the riches… that moths could not destroy in Heaven. ([Acts 20:33](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+20%3A33&version=NIV))

Let us not covet and seek profitable gain. Instead, let us seek correction that covetousness blinds us from.

And let us shine… so that all people, believers and unbelievers can see God in us.

Compass helps people worldwide to know Christ more intimately in one of the most personal arenas of life, finances.

VERSES | Apr 24, 2023

Coveting - The Bible on Money

By: Compass Finances God's Way

Compass helps people worldwide to know Christ more intimately in one of the most personal arenas of life, finances.

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