What Turns Heaven Into Hell?

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“There is no heaven that envy can’t turn into hell.”

- Gavin Ortlund 

Exploring the tenth commandment: Do not covet. A command to be content.

Adam and Eve are the perfect example of this. They literally lived in paradise and once tempted, they were no longer satisfied with their circumstances. They resented God and they were tempted with the desire to be like him. Never mind the irony that they were already like God because they were made in his image. Image bearers reflecting God back to himself and to the world around them. It wasn’t enough that they had everything they could ever want. They wanted what they didn’t have: ultimate control and authority, and their envy turned that idyllic heavenly garden into hell.

Don’t we do this?

Don’t we get on social media, or spend time with a friend and quietly resent that thing they have that’s just a little bit better than ours. And oftentimes it’s not even a thing. Perhaps you envy their better marriage, more polite kids, a seemingly better work-life balance. We envy someone’s personality, professional connections, and of course, the obvious things like a new car, or kitchen, or hair. I’m revealing my cards here. I better switch gears!

The Tenth Commandment

I’ve always been perplexed by that tenth Commandment. It doesn’t exactly keep with the theme of the others. The first few address our relationship with God:

• Love God first

• Worship him properly

• Don’t misuse his name—basically, don’t swear or dishonor God with your words

• Carve out time to love God and to worship him properly—keep the sabbath

The next few address our relationship with others:

• Honour your parents comes first

• Then the quad— 

  • don’t kill

  • cheat

  • steal

  • or lie

Seems simple enough. 

And finally, don’t covet to round of up the ten. Basically, it’s the command to somehow not want what other people have. A command to not want it. But how could one possibly control what they want? We may have the will power to not kill someone, we may be able to resist the urge to steal what they have. But how can God expect us to control what we want?

The Bookends

Tim Keller once described coveting as an inner grasping. It’s an inner grasping that says, “I've got to have these things or I'm so empty”. You shall not covet means you shall love God enough to be content in all circumstances. That's what the Commandment is.

The first Commandment and the tenth Commandment are like bookends and they summarize the whole. The first Commandment says, love God with all your heart. Put nothing before Him. Be totally absorbed in Him. And the tenth Commandment is the result of doing that well.

So if you follow the first Commandment and you love God, the tenth commandment is, if you love God enough, love God enough so that you will be content in all circumstances, then all the rest of the Commandments in between fall in place.

And that’s how the bookends work. Love God well and you will be so satisfied in him that you won’t even feel envy towards another for what they have. You’ll find yourself content to have all you ever wanted in God himself. 

That’s what’s so ugly and unfortunate about envy. Envy causes dissatisfaction with one’s own blessings. The beautiful things God has given us to enjoy and to enrich our lives are no longer appealing. We forget that those gifts from God are exactly that, a gift. They are not meant to be life to us. Only God can fill such large a void. And so these gifts or blessings become burdens and we resent those around us for having what we think we deserve.

Envy says: “I deserve that”. But contentment is being satisfied regardless of circumstances.

The Icing

Matt Chandler recently touched on this in a sermon when he said, 

“As nice as sex is, being God's invention, as nice as relationships and friendships are, as nice as money is, as nice as comfort is, as nice as all these things are, they are icing. You can't live on icing.” 

He talked about what the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Philippians (4:12), “I have learned the secret of being content.”

And the secret to keeping the tenth commandment is found in keeping the first: I will love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

The secret can’t be found if you live faith adjacent. If you remain on the fringes of faith or keep at the general orbit of a life deeply rooted in Christ. It just doesn’t work.

As Matt Chandler continued in his message,

“It’s not for people who nibble around the edges and live in the suburbs of Christianity, but those people who will go downtown. It's for people who are willing not to say, I'll be a little bit more religious, I need a little bit of help, I need some moral reformation.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. Put him in the center of your life. And then, and only then, can you even begin to know what it means not to covet.”

Friends, I hope you see what’s really at stake here. Because envy has a way of eating away at you and make you into a certain kind of person. That when you see something good happen to someone else and think, “They don’t deserve that, I do!” You mourn over those who rejoice, and rejoice over those who mourn. Quietly gloating over someone’s misfortune and envying someone’s blessings.

We must come to place in our love for God where we can say with all honestly and joy, God, you're enough. I love you enough. Even if I don’t have that. You are enough for me.

It’s what Adam and Eve failed to do in the garden. “Did God really say…?” They asked. It makes accusations against God. That he’s holding out on you. That he doesn’t actually want what’s best for you, or doesn’t seem to understand what that is. How ridiculous. But we do this! It’s saying that you know best what you deserve, and that your neighbor is getting more than they deserve and that I know what I need most to be happy. God is holding out on me. And my envy turns heaven into hell.

Rather, let’s look at God’s blessings as the icing and love God enough to allow his love to fill the voids in our hearts. 

Learning the Secret

Paul said he had learnt the secret to contentment, which tells us the command to not covet and be content doesn’t come naturally. So here are some practices to help strengthen our contentment. 

1. Expose envy by naming it.

Maybe you’ve thought things like,“I’m happy for them, but…”or “Must be nice…”.These are quiet moments of comparison that need to be acknowledged without shame and brought before the Lord. 

2. Practice gratitude and be specific.If comparison is the thief of joy, then gratitude is the fuel of joy that starves out the envy trying to rob us. But be specific. Instead of, “Thanks for what I have,” try: “Thank you for the rest in this season, if it’s slower than I wanted.”“Thank you for the work you’ve given me, even if it’s unseen.”“Thank you for the people you’ve entrusted to me.”This type of gratitude puts the focus on God’s provision, not someone else’s outcomes.

3. Bless the person you’re resenting. 

You’re not pretending envy isn’t there. You’re just refusing to let it shape your posture. So bless with your mouth and your heart and mind will follow.

“Bless those who persecute you…” (Romans 12:14)If that applies there, it definitely applies here.

4. Rehearse the truth envy forgets.

Envy has amnesia. You have to remind yourself:

• God’s timing is intentional.

• God’s assignments are personal.

• God’s blessings are not interchangeable.

What someone else has might crush you or cost you something God is protecting you from. 

May you find deep contentment in God himself and receive his blessings with gratitude, refusing to let envy turn your slice of heaven into hell.

What’s in the Ears

This is the part where I share a song or podcast I’m currently into. Since I quoted Tim Keller and Matt Chandler in this post. I am linking their messages here. Tim Keller’s is titled, Contentment, posted on The Gospel in Life Podcast on February 2, 2026, and Matt Chandler’s is on The Village Church Podcast titled, Who Do You Love?, posted on the same day. Let me know if you check them out!

If this stirred something in you, share this post with a friend or drop a comment below. I’d love to hear what small step you’re taking towards the flourishing life today! And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.