Exploring the 10 Commandments: The Eighth Command
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“You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15).
Have you ever stolen something that did not belong to you? Maybe it was a pack of gum? Perhaps you took money from a wallet that was left? Or did you ever steal someone else’s answer on a test in school?
What was the consequence for your decision? Did anyone ever find out? Maybe you were stuck with the guilt, but never got caught. God sees everything and He knows the times when we have been tempted to take things that do not belong to us.
Stealing comes in many different forms. Thankfully, this side of the cross, we have forgiveness, but we are still called into a life of repentance.
Today we will dive into the eight commandment, do not steal.
What Is Stealing?
Maybe you thought stealing was only taking a physical object that belonged to another, like a bank robber or a street thief. Although these are true examples of breaking the eighth commandment, stealing covers a much broader concept than just that.
Some examples of stealing include:
- Using someone’s identity as if it were your own (i.e. fake ID)
- “Copying” an answer off of someone else’s test
- Taking money that belongs to another
- Taking someone else’s item without permission
- Sneaking food or any item from a store without paying
- Forcing someone else into physical actions that they do not consent to (i.e. stealing a kiss)
- Getting paid by a company or ministry, but neglecting to be working in the office during those hours.
- Misusing a company card for personal use/stealing from the company to receive free lunches.
- Cheating on your taxes
- Accepting dishonest bribes
- Not paying what someone else is owed for the service given to you
Webster’s Dictionary defines stealing as: “to take the property of another wrongfully and especially as a habitual or regular practice.”
Have you stolen before? While this is something that might be more obvious or frequent in childhood, it can actually appear a lot in adulthood. The temptation is there whether it is something of great worth or small. We have to be on our guard.
What about Those in Poverty?
What about people who are starving and steal food, or people who are cold and steal clothing? What does the Bible say about this in regard to stealing?
“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:7-9).
Stealing can become a temptation at any point, but particularly in poverty. King Solomon makes it clear that he desires for his needs to be met, but not to be swayed by money either way. He says that if he were poor and stole, that he would dishonor the name of God. Stealing is not commended in the Scriptures, even in hardship. This is why it is important that we as the church are living out what God has asked us to do in caring for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner. (Psalm 82:3, Proverbs 14:31, Proverbs 14:21, Isaiah 58:6-8, and Micah 6:8, Luke 3:11, and James 1:27).
Those in poverty are invited to call on the Lord for help (Psalm 34:6, Psalm 140:12). He cares greatly for all of us, even more than the birds or the lilies of the field. As believers, we should seek to help be the answer to someone else’s prayer for God to meet their needs. We should take great joy in giving and blessing those in poverty so that they are not tempted to steal.
The Main Difference Between Stealing and Coveting
Stealing and coveting seem to go hand in hand. We will get to the 10th commandment soon enough, but coveting can lead to the action of stealing. When we live in mindsets of discontentment, envy, and negativity, we miss out of the greatest treasure that we already have access to in Christ.
Webster’s Dictionary defines covet as, “to wish for earnestly; to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably.” Coveting is meditation on envious desires, where stealing is the action of taking without a right to it.
Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If we are treasuring anyone or anything that does not belong to us, our hearts will become attached. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Our hearts can lead us into serious trouble if we allow them to. We can follow our feelings into sinful decisions that we would never have thought we would be involved in, all because we trusted our nature instead of our Savior.
When we think back to Adam and Eve in the garden, Eve stole the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She took something that was not rightfully hers. The action was the stealing, but first she saw and was tempted, coveting the knowledge that God had and the fruit that she was not able to consume.
What in your life right now looks so appealing to you, but the Lord has clearly said this is not His will for you? Is there something that you want so badly that you would be tempted to steal it from another? Is your honesty and integrity on the line? Maybe someone took something from you and now you want to take something back from them in revenge?
The time to come before God and confess is now. Jesus came so that we could live in His freedom. We are called out of darkness and into His marvelous light. The life of a disciple of Christ is not easy, but it is an eternally rewarding one. Can we lay down the things that we want to treasure above Jesus and ask Him to remind us that He is greater than anything or anyone on this earth?
The Ten Commandments List
Commandments 1-4
Thou shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. (Exodus 20:4-6)
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Commandments 5-10
Honor your father and mother. (Exodus 20:12)
Thou shalt not murder. (Exodus 20:13)
Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
Thou shall not covet your neighbor. (Exodus 20:17)
Jesus summed up all of the 10 commandments. As we look at commandments 1-4, they are vertical, about our relationship with God (Love the Lord your God). As we look at commandments 5-10, they are horizontal, about our relationship with others (Love your neighbor as yourself).
This week, may we confess any areas where we have been stealing. May we be empowered to live by the Spirit and not by our flesh, to fight for gratitude and contentment in whatever we have and whatever we do not have in life. May we realize that we already have all that we need in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:9 says, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
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The Seventh Command
The Sixth Command
The Ninth Command
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Iuliia Burmistrova
