Yahweh, the Giver of Every Good Gift, says, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). And Paul says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28).
When Paul sums up the commandments, he says they “are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:9-10). He quotes from Leviticus 19 where God says, “You shall not steal… but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Therefore, stealing is a failure to love, a rejection of the way of love that comes from God. So, the opposite of stealing isn’t just leaving stuff alone that doesn’t belong to you; the opposite of stealing is Gift-Love.
The Triune God is Gift-Love. He isn’t merely generous—he is essentially Giver-Gift-Given. The Father forever gives himself to the Son in the Person of the Holy Spirit, and the Son forever reciprocates this complete self-gift to the Father, again, in the same Holy Spirit. It is his very being, the way in which he exists eternally.
This God created all things to be a gift. He gave humanity the gift of life like his, the life of Gift-Love. And he gave his whole world as a lavish gift to humans. But in the Gift-Garden we were not satisfied with his divine generosity, and we turned to take what did not belong to us. We became self-centered thieves, and wrenched ourselves out of the life of Gift-Love.
When God gave his Son, Jesus, he gave the greatest and most precious gift of all. In Jesus our cosmic theft is forgiven. In Jesus our human life is caught back up into the Gift-Love life of the Trinity. Now God gives himself to us in the Person of the Holy Spirit so that we may live in the same way that he lives. So we stop taking what belongs to others. We learn again that, in spite of not deserving it at all, we are given every good gift—indeed, we are given even our very selves as recipients!—in order to reciprocate God’s Gift-Love. And we do that by serving and blessing each other with our God-given gifts.
What are some ways in which one can break the Eighth Commandment apart from blatant criminal theft, robbery, or kidnapping? In the workplace as an employee or employer? In courts of law? In consuming entertainment media? In relationships with friends? With reference to the government? How about with direct reference to God in worship (see Malachi 3:8-10)? What are some ways in which you can look to keep the Eighth Commandment? (See the Westminster Larger Catechism 141 for ideas.) Must you “sell all that you have and give to the poor” (Mark 10:21) in order to be a Christian who keeps this commandment? How do you feel about receiving and enjoying gifts with thankfulness? Assuming that you have taught your children to be generous and to share, have you done so in light of this commandment and the Gift-Love of God?
