Starve the Fantasy, Feed the Soul // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Aug 30 2026

Most of the Ten Commandments speak to behaviors that are observable and measurable (e.g. there are ways to tell when a person is stealing or working on the sabbath). The final commandment of the ten forbidds something much more internal to our minds and hearts: we should not covet neighbor's "house or spouse" (Exodus 20:17). This command puts restraints on our most secret thoughts and inner desires: our envy, jealousy, lust, and bitterness. These are wrongs that would be hard to convict in a court of law, but resisting them would be essential for living life in God. Without the inner work of the 10th commandment, the other nine will always feel uphill for us.One of the most essential tasks of the Christian life is training our hearts to love and desire what is truly good. This week we'll consider Biblical practices of contentment, thanksgiving, guarding our hearts, "taking captive our thoughts", accepting the gifts of limitations, and remembering that even downstream of suffering the gospel gives us a hope more satisfying than we could know we wanted.