Coveting the Gifts of the Spirit
To covet, according to the Standard Dictionary, means, primarily, “to have an inordinate or unlawful desire for; to lust after.” Hence the idea as expressed in the tenth commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” etc. A covetous person is an idolater (Eph. 5:5), and has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. See, also, 1 Cor. 6:9, 10. So the expression, “covet earnestly the best gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31), is better as rendered in the Revised Version, “Desire earnestly the greater gifts.” We have no right to covet, or unlawfully desire, even the gifts of the Spirit. This was the sin of Simon Magus, who desired to purchase miraculous power with money, and was told by Simon Peter that his heart was not right in the sight of God, and that he was “in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” To desire the Spirit of God for any purpose but to unselfishly glorify God, is nothing short of idolatry. Hence in asking for the Spirit, we should weigh carefully the real purpose of our earnest desire. No doubt an underlying selfishness in asking for the Spirit is a reason, if not the reason, why the prayer is so often denied.