The Underestimated Sin

A Roman Catholic priest who had heard the confessions of 2,000 people said he had heard people confess iniquity of every kind, including adultery and even murder. But he had never heard any man confessing to the sin of covetousness.

Coveting is a very subtle sin that can lead to things that are far worse. To covet is to eagerly desire that which belongs to another, to set the heart on something. A literal translation of the word means “to pant after something,” almost suggesting the idea of an animal.

Coveting is not just admiring your neighbor’s car. It is wanting your neighbor’s car—not one like it, but his car. And coveting usually leads to action. Coveting is a powerful and underestimated sin that can cripple us spiritually and ultimately destroy us. It should not be underestimated or left unchecked.

Think of the people in the Bible who tragically gave in to the sin of coveting. Consider Eve and how sin came into the human race. Genesis tells us, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate . . . ” (Genesis 3:6). She saw. She delighted. She desired. She took. She gave.

So coveting works like this. The eyes admire an object. The mind considers it. The will goes over it. The body moves into possession. That is coveting. And it is a sin that we can so easily commit.