One of the Ten Commandments tells us we shall not be envious of one another, wanting what others have. It is actually the tenth commandment, which tells me it might not have been one of those violations God was most concerned about, but he did want us to remember this commandment so we could get along pretty well with each other.
The commandment says, “Thou shall not covet.” The word covet means to enviously desire something that belongs to someone else.
Our society tells all of us we should be able to have whatever everyone else has. We’re supposed to make everyone “equal,” or at least “equitable,” so that whether you work hard or not, you should be able to have whatever makes for a comfortable living.
I lived in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, a little country called Haiti, back in the 1970s. It was probably the most interesting time of my life. I lived there for four years, the wife of an American working for an American construction company that was building a road there.
We were not poor. We were also not wealthy, but to the people living in that impoverished country, we were rich.
It was the first time I had been outside the United States, and I did not know what to expect when I arrived in Haiti. We lived in a hotel where tourists came to stay when they visited the Caribbean island.
Even the hotel seemed a bit primitive to us. It wasn’t like the hotels in the states, with carpeting and air conditioning. The floors were tile, with sisal rugs, and everything seemed old. Although we had no modern conveniences there, we were comfortable.
The people were friendly, and very accommodating. Immediately, I loved being there. I got to know all the staff who worked at the hotel, and ventured around town using their public transportation, called the tap-taps.
I guess you might say I coveted their lifestyles. They were simple. They loved to laugh. The Haitian people worked hard to do whatever they did, and they were happy with what they had, at least most of them seemed to be.
The people who lived in the city, who were exposed to the tourists who flaunted their riches in front of them, would often get a distorted vision of what benefits came from wealth. I always said the city Haitians were ruined by the tourists.
While living in Haiti, I learned their language, Creole, and it became my purpose to get to know the people there. I traveled into the country where people had never been to the city, and had never been around wealthy people. They were called the “peasants.”
A missionary friend of mine and I visited a family in their home, back in the country, where we had to ride horses to get there. The house was a very small hut, with a straw roof and a dirt floor.
The wife had just given birth to a set of twins and was carrying them when we got there. They graciously invited us into their home and we visited with them. I barely knew enough Creole at the time to carry on much of a conversation, but I tried.
I will always remember our visit from that day. This couple had everything. They were poor, and had very little food, but they were happy. They were loving and gracious. It may have been the first time in my life when I realized how little I cared about being wealthy.
We are all blessed with talents and gifts that God has given to us. He did not give the same gifts to all of us. He did not create us to be equal, but he loves us all equally. If we appreciate what we have and not what we wish we have, there’s where we will find happiness, and wealth does not make happiness.
The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence, but we don’t always realize that until we are already over the fence.
— My love to all,
Nancy
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“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
— Exodus 20:17