Lewis Allen, On Coveting

“Coveting, at root, is a refusal to recognize God as God. His Word tells us that he is wise, good, and generous. Your heart repeats the Devil’s whisper that God is stingy, unloving, disinterested. The Serpent bites again, and you’re left feeling “poor little me” as you look at your life and ministry. Yet again we’ve believed the poisonous lie, that God isn’t the God of his Word, good and loving, but some selfish monster of our imagining and the Devil’s suggestion. Let this lie live, and your poisoned heart will covet. Coveting refuses to yield to the life and ministry God has ordained for us. Coveting refuses to trust in his generosity and wisdom. When you refuse to trust God in what he has given you, you are accusing God of being unloving and unwise. Coveting is evil, ugly, and dangerous.” (The Preachers Catechism, pgs. 158-159)