Covetousness: The Believer And Gold 1 by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Believer and Money

When teaching about money, the goal is not to push people toward acquiring more — it is to examine the heart and ensure that money has not become an idol. God will not bless what he is competing with. If he is invested in a life, he will resist that idol. What may look like delay could simply be God resisting pride. The difference between a person and wealth is often one idea — and that idea must come as light from God.

Jeremiah 17:5

The curse described here is a blindness: God says he will bring good, but the person whose heart has departed from the Lord will not see it when good comes. The eyes must be opened. That is why Paul prayed that the eyes of understanding would be enlightened. In Genesis 21, Hagar and her son were dying of thirst — but the well was there. God did not create the well in that moment. He opened her eyes to see what was already there. If the eyes are not open, a person will kill their Isaac praying for what is already in their hand.

What Is Covetousness?

The Hebrew word most commonly translated as covet is chamad — meaning to desire, to long for, or to take pleasure in something that belongs to another. In plain terms, covetousness is seeking to own what belongs to another person.

This is not admiration. It is a specific, targeted desire:

• A specific house — not the desire for a house, but craving this house that belongs to someone else
• A specific spouse, a specific car, a specific position

This is the distinction between covetousness and greed. Greed says: I want more. Covetousness says: I want that one. Even with 100 billion, if that one thing is missing, there is leanness in the soul.

In the New Testament, two Greek words describe covetousness — epithumia (intense inward craving directed toward what is not yours) and pleonexia (an obsessive grasping for more). Covetousness is therefore a disordered desire of the heart — specifically, a discontent with what God has given combined with an obsessive fixation on what he has given someone else.

It is not primarily an action. It is a posture of the inner man.

How Covetousness Sounds in Practice

• "Why does he have that and I don't? I work just as hard."
• "If I had his connections, I'd be further than him by now."
• "They are not even using it properly."
• "God has been blessing everyone else. When is it going to be my turn?"
• "I've been faithful longer than them. Why are they ahead of me?"
• "I'll be happy once I get the job. I'll be happy once I get the car."
• "Something is wrong — nobody rises that fast without cutting corners."

Covetousness hides behind ambition, faith language, and comparison dressed as discernment. The tell is always the direction of the focus: obsessively fixed on what someone else has.

Why This Sin Must Be Understood

1. It is not spoken about enough

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   Pastor Dolapo Lawal

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   After years of active pastoring, no one has ever come forward struggling with covetousness and greed. This is not because people are not practicing it — it is because the sin is so normalized it goes undiagnosed. Covetousness is one of the most socially acceptable sins in the modern world, and in many cases it is actively celebrated.

   Parents plant its seeds when they ask, "Is that not your mate? What are they doing there?" or "Why can't you be like your cousin?" Influencer culture has made an entire lifestyle out of envy dressed as goals. There is such a thing as a lying spirit — a spirit that not only produces deception but draws confirmation from those around it. Covetousness can feel exactly like a God-given desire and have many voices confirming it. The test: if everyone around you did not have that thing, would you still want it?

2. It is the oldest sin in all of creation

   The first scene in the Bible is linked to covetousness. Genesis 3:6 — the woman saw that the tree was good for food, a delight to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise. She had every tree except this one. Covetousness is believing what you have is insufficient because of what you don't have. She had everything, and that one forbidden thing became the obsession.

   Before Eve, there was Lucifer. Isaiah 14:13–14 — "I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will make myself like the Most High." There is a case to be made that Lucifer's fall is the first act of covetousness in all of created existence. Covetousness is therefore not a modern problem — it is the oldest sin in the universe. Satan fell by it. He now presents it to humanity.

   When a person is being covetous, they are behaving like the devil.

3. It is the tenth commandment — the mother of all the others

   Exodus 20:17 — of the 600+ laws of Moses and 10 commandments, nearly all address behaviour or actions. Only one commandment targets the thought life: covetousness. Every other sin begins in the mind but manifests in action. Covetousness lives entirely in the realm of thought — and Mark 7 says what defiles a man is what comes out of that internal place.

   Commandments 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are all actions that flow out of commandment 10. Cain killed his brother because he coveted the acceptance Abel received. Saul was destroyed because he coveted the ovation that shifted to David.

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   Paul calls covetousness idolatry. Colossians 3:5 — put to death what is earthly: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Ephesians 5:5 — no covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of God. A covetous person has a second god. Coveting breaks the very first commandment.

The Grace Dimension of Wealth

Romans 12:5–8 — having gifts differing according to the grace given to us: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation — and giving. Giving is listed as a grace. This means there is an election of grace pertaining to wealth, just as God can ordain someone as a prophet from birth. God can ordain someone to be rich. Some people are positioned by grace and environment — not pure effort — to carry wealth.

This is why comparing by effort alone misses the point. Wealth is also an environment — what the mind is conditioned to conceive. Those who have not grown up in environments where large sums are spoken about normally cannot easily conceive them. This is not an excuse to stop striving, but a reason to stop being harsh with oneself and to seek God for the ideas and light that produce increase — not the things themselves.

Practical Ways to Deal with Covetousness

1. Name it and bring it to God in prayer

   Unnamed sin stays. Named sin can be dealt with. Be specific: "Lord, I repent from coveting my friend's promotion. I repent from the obsession I have had with that car. Ever since I saw it on social media, I have been working toward it — not because you gave me a vision, but because someone else has it."

   As those things are confessed, they are released. God approached Cain this way before the murder — "Sin lies at your door and desires to have you." Cain did not respond. Envy became bitterness, bitterness became murder. His eye never came down. The naming is how it is stopped.

2. Replace coveting with thanksgiving

   When a friend receives something wonderful and the heart begins to covet — enter thanksgiving instead. Thank God for what he has done for that person. "God, you are good. You made her wait and it was worth it." This is the opposite action to what the heart wants to do, and it is what breaks the power of the covetous thought.

   The widow in the Gospels gave her last two mites. Jesus said she gave the most — she was the richest because she was the most detached from need. Real wealth is contentment, not accumulation. A man in a room of billionaires said, "I am the richest one here — because I have enough." A man with 10 million who wants 100 billion is effectively broke. A man with 1 million who is contented is orala.

   Philippians 4:11 — Paul said he had learned to be content. It is not a personality trait assigned at birth. It is a learned skill. It must be cultivated.

3. Give — let it go

   Luke 12:15 — Jesus warned: "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Luke 12:33 — "Sell what you have and give alms. Provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail."

   A man of God traveling to America heard a message on prosperity and decided to test it. He gave away all his money and sat in Rand Park not knowing what to do. Three hours later, a white woman walked up and handed him $50: "The Lord said to give you this." He said it was the first time he understood what prosperity truly means — not having much, but being wealthy enough to never be stranded. "My needs will be met. I will not see lack."

   Giving is the direct antidote to the spirit of covetousness. It is the proof that a thing does not own the heart.