“You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15
Stealing is taking something that doesn’t belong to you. You may not have stolen anything from a store without paying, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t, at times, thieves. Stealing is more common than we’d like to think. We steal from others and from God. If God has told you to spend time with your spouse and you choose to have some alone time doing a fun activity, you are robbing your spouse. If you spend your tithe money on a latte and rationalize that it’s only a couple of dollars less, at least you’re giving something, then you are stealing from God. There are many ways we can have the heart of a thief.
Questions
- When we decide we need something we don’t have and are willing to get it at a cost, we are not trusting God to provide what we need. When is it hardest for you to trust that God will provide what you need?
- When there is something you want more than to obey God, how do you rationalize what you do to get it? How has this cost you?
- How do you “steal” in your relationships? Is there something you are avoiding by this theft? Or gaining? How will you repent of this?
- God wants his people to have generous hearts. With what, whom, or when is it harder for you to practice generosity?
- How well does your group practice generosity? How could you grow in this?
Pray
Father God, give us generous hearts that do not count the gain or the loss in service to you. Help us to worship with our time, relationships, hearts, and money without seeking for gain hidden along the way. Keep our eyes on you, Lord, the one who is unendingly generous from a vast treasure trove. Help our hearts to be content and peaceful, remembering your generosity to those you love and your great wisdom in knowing our true needs. Amen.
This devotion is adapted from the Ten Commandments Study Guide.
