The Hardest of the Ten Commandments

Get ready. This is a deep one.

I read two books recently about philosopher Rene Girard. His extraordinary life and insights gave me a new appreciation for the tenth of the Ten Commandments.

It is the most perplexing and challenging. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house;”

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17)

Is it possible to not covet?

We can understand not stealing what belongs to our neighbors. But is it possible to eliminate desire itself?

I see my neighbor's beautiful lawn, and I really want to improve my own. Is that wrong?