Thou Shalt Not Covet Thine Own Property

In the last of the ten commandments, Jehovah commanded the Israelites, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s” (Exodus 20:17). One definition online defines the word covet this way: “To desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others.” These words of the Lord to Martin Harris make sense given that definition: “And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife; nor seek thy neighbor’s life.” That is consistent with the original commandment and the meaning is clear: Martin was not to desire to take what was his neighbor’s. But then the Lord also said this: “And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:25-26). The example online attached to the above definition is this: “To covet another's property.” But here the Lord told Martin, “Thou shalt not covet thine own property.” To covet someone else’s property means that you want to obtain it for yourself wrongfully, so what does it mean to covet your property that you already own? This seems to be an even higher law than what the Lord gave to ancient Israel—He wanted Martin, I believe, to realize that the farm wasn’t really his. It was the Lord’s, and the Lord was asking Martin to not desire it above the marvelous work He was bringing forth. Even though it was rightfully Martin’s according to earthly law, the Lord wanted Martin to love Him more than his own possessions. Perhaps the Savior could have added this to the Sermon on the Mount: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s. But I say unto you, thou shalt not covet thine own house or anything that is thine.” The Lord wants us to be ready to give it all to Him.

               To his great credit, Martin did indeed give up much of his farm for the purpose of printing the Book of Mormon. He covered the $3000 to E. B. Grandin for the 5000 copies of the book that had to be covered up front. That may not seem like an enormous amount until we consider inflation: this was approximately $100,000 in today’s money. That was no small sacrifice, and we should look back with great gratitude for Martin Harris and his faith. We may not have the 116 pages because of him, but we also wouldn’t have had the Book of Mormon at all without him—no one else who believed Joseph had that kind of money at that time. His story and this revelation should inspire us to ask ourselves whether we would be willing to do the same. If the Lord came and asked us, for example, to lose $100,000 of equity in our home and give it to Him, could we do it willingly? Surely the words of the Lord to Martin have implications for each of us in our own situations: “Impart a portion of thy property, yea, even part of thy lands, and all save the support of thy family” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:34). A related scripture says it more directly to each of us: “Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!” (Doctrine and Covenants 56:16) If we hang on too tightly to our own possessions, they will finish by cankering our souls.

               The title of the section in the Come, Follow Me manual discussing this part of section 19 says this: “God’s blessings are greater than the treasures of the earth.” Ultimately we must come to believe that for ourselves, like the group of Elders who voted to publish the Book of Commandments and declared, that the revelations of God are “worth to the Church the riches of the whole Earth” (see header to section 70). Martin Harris believed that the Book of Mormon was more valuable that his own property, and we too must come to learn that the things of the world, including our own property, are nothing compared to the things of God. This injunction from the Lord should continue to inspire our priorities: “Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:7).