Think about it for a second: In the 1950’s, a family with one car and one television was considered well-off. Now, the average American family has a television in each room of the house and two cars. People are no longer content with one house, now they need a beach house, lake house or cabin in the woods for summer vacations or winter retreats.
We live in a society that constantly wants more, and compared to what everyone else has, our constant wanting doesn’t seem so bad. It even seems that if we’re not constantly keeping up with the Joneses, we almost seem out of place.

-Deuteronomy 5:21

The message here could be simply translated, “Be Content.” Growing up, I was always taught that this commandment was about not being jealous or envious of other people. I don’t think that summary really cuts to the heart of what God is trying to tell us. It’s easy for us not to think we’re jealous of people. Sure, maybe we would really like to have all the things Bob and Sharon have, but we’re not jealous of them, so it’s okay.

The words, envy and jealousy seem so much worse than “discontentment.”

It’s easy to see what this commandment is saying, “don’t want what other people have.” But we also have to look at what underlies this. What is the commandment implying but not saying? I think the answer to that is, “Be content with your wife, and desire your own house, your field, your male servant or female servant, your ox and your donkey. Be content with what is yours.”

Here’s the question: You may be not be jealous of your best friends car, and you might not want his house or his wife, but when you see your neighbor driving his new Lexus, are you happy with your Honda? Or is there a part of you that wishes you could have what he has. Do you hear stories of people buying new cars and new houses or going on elaborate vacations and your first thought is, “That must be nice.”

If you have these thoughts, you have broken the tenth commandment. We are commanded not to desire what other people have, but to be content and thankful for what we have in life. That is the real message in the tenth commandment, that God has blessed each of us with whatever it is we have in life. The same God who blessed you with a two-bedroom apartment also blessed your rich aunt Bertha with an eight-bedroom mansion in a tropical paradise, and He has His own reasons for it.

Be thankful that God has blessed you, and don’t be unhappy because He has blessed someone else with what you think would make you happy. God may have blessed your rich aunt with abundance, but with that blessing also comes greater responsibility, and often, increased worry.

This may be the last commandment, but it is not at all insignificant. The eighth commandment says “Don’t steal.” If you’re able to keep the 10th commandment and you are content with your possessions, you’ll be able to keep the 8th. The seventh commandment forbids adultery. If you are content with your spouse, you won’t run to someone else’s bed. The first and second commandments deal with idolatry and false Gods. If we’re content with our relationship with God, we won’t run to any imitations.

If we’re not constantly wanting more, we will give God glory for what we have and we’ll trust His promises to provide for us. The issue of contentment is very important, and not one that we can just overlook. God has commanded us to contentment because He knows that if we are discontent our hearts will wander, and in our search to gain more, we will ultimately lose all that is truly important.