Heidelbergian Children's Catechism (age 8- 10 years)
Lord's Day 44
The tenth commandment says that you shall not covet what belongs to your neighbour. You are coveting when you constantly think about what someone else has, and you won’t be satisfied until you have it. In this commandment the Lord says that you should not be jealous of people who have something that you don’t have. jealousy itself is evil. When evil coveting takes hold of you many other sins come up as well, sins that we have already mentioned. For example, if you absolutely have to buy something a friend has, you may think about stealing money. Even if you do not steal, it went through your mind. You might be so angry that you say something rude. In fact, you may also feel angry at God. Why does your friend get something which your father and mother do not want you to have? When you go to bed, you are still angry and skip your evening prayer. And secretly you hope your friend will get a bad mark tomorrow. You can see that several other sins are included in sinning against the tenth commandment. Therefore do away that nasty coveting. Be content! That is part of this commandment. Of course it is not wrong to want something. You may save money to buy it, or you can ask for it as a birthday gift. Or maybe you will receive it even though it’s not your birthday. But you should never desire something because you are jealous. We have come to the end of the Ten Commandments. Have you always been fully obedient to these ten laws of the Lord? Everyone’s answer will be “no,” But God’s children must still try to be more obedient. You cannot be obedient on your own; pray for the Holy Spirit to help you be obedient. The Ten Commandments teach us something else as well: we need the Lord Jesus. Even when we try to do everything good, so often it goes wrong. When we sin we can only go to the Lord Jesus. Because of Him there is forgiveness. You may respectfully ask the Father for this. We should continually pray for forgiveness. We cannot do without forgiveness, not even for a day. And at the same time WE thank God: Lord, you are so good to us!