"You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me"

Covetousness, jealousy, envy.....idolatry, these are things that I have been struggling with lately. Not a small burden, not a small amount of sin!

I find that as a young mom it is terribly easy to look at what other moms do well and become dissatisfied with my life or my abilities and ultimately God. Whether it is a creative talent, a cleaner more organized house, better dressed children, more stuff, more time etc, I can tend to get jealous that I am unable to do these things better or have these things.

I did not immediately notice these sins in my heart, but rather they crept in surreptitiously and continued to spread. God has been faithfully exposing and working through these sins in me. I have a long way to go but am so thankful for grace! I need it!

I would very highly recommend reading the following post on the Desiring God website. It's not long but so helpful in highlighting the sin in us and offering practical and biblical suggestions to fight it. You can find it here.

The main thrust of the article is to help you put covetousness to death by looking at others. Sounds very ironic, indeed, but John Piper points us to the apostle Paul's words to the Philippians. "Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us." (3:17). Piper suggests looking at the wise and mature saints in your life as well as the saints of old.

I want to continue doing just this! As I've mentioned previously in my blog, I've been reading through the biography of Elizabeth Prentiss and have been most blessed so far. Julian also just bought me Golden Hours, a collection of her poetry and writings. I'm so excited to read them. When I read about her love for our Saviour, I love our Saviour more and love the things of this world less.

So identify some faithful saints in your life, read some biographies, and fight covetousness! Soli deo Gloria.