BibleProject | The 10 CommandmentsSample

Stealing, Stockpiling, or Sharing?

How does it feel when someone takes your stuff without asking, whether it’s your lunch from the office fridge or your charger from the classroom? The 8th Commandment simply says, “You shall not steal” (Exod. 20:15), and victims of any theft know why. But there’s something deeper that drives stealing: the belief that there isn’t enough to go around.

Our world assumes resources are scarce. Ads warn, “Limited supply!” Markets rise when people believe something is rare. The message is constant: Grab what you can before someone else does. Save it. Protect it. Hoard it.

That mindset can easily spill into the way we treat money and basically everything. We guard our resources and make plans to acquire more. Compassion gives way when we listen to greed. Because when life feels like a shrinking pie, generosity looks scary, and stealing seems like insurance.

The Bible pushes back on that fear. In Ephesians 4:28, the Apostle Paul says people who follow Jesus Christ should stop taking things they don’t need from each other and start working honestly. And the reason isn’t so that they can stockpile more but so that they can “have something to share with the needy.” From Paul’s angle, “don’t steal” also means “do share.”

Today’s video invites us to trust that God is generous and has already filled creation with more than enough for everyone to share. God’s abundance makes fear dissolve. Greed fades. Giving feels possible.

So here’s the challenge: The next time you feel the urge to take something without asking, instead respect it as a gift God gave to someone else. And when you feel a similar urge to protect what’s “yours,” pause and ask a different question instead: “What could I share?”

Because the life God imagines for us isn’t built on taking. It’s built on giving, and it starts with passing God’s abundance along with open-handed generosity.

Reflection Question:

• Where does it feel scary, uncomfortable, or risky for you to be generous? How would trusting God’s generosity—believing that God has provided more than enough—change your perspective and behavior around wealth?