The Right Antidote

If you are bitten by a rattlesnake, the right antidote can neutralize or block the venom that begins spreading into your body. The antidote can prevent death or even sickness.

Spiritually speaking, the sin of coveting can also introduce a poison that can lead to committing other sins in our lives.

The tenth commandment forbids us from coveting anything that belongs to our neighbor. When we covet what belongs to others, we develop a deep longing for what they have, and these other persons become little more than an obstacle to the fulfillment of our desires. Coveting becomes intertwined with envy, and these sins diminish us too, by making our spirits restless and filling our hearts with the toxins of bitterness and resentment.

But the Bible offers a powerful spiritual antidote. Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison, where everything had been taken from him, including his freedom. And he offers his own straightforward prescription: learn to live in contentment with what God has already graciously provided. At the most basic level, contentment means trusting that God knows what’s best for us and will always provide what we need. Deep contentment also leads us to rejoice in what God has graciously given to others.

Contentment is not a quickacting antidote. It comes gradually through the long, sometimes painful process of dying to ourselves and being made new in Christ, who died for us.