Seventh Commandment
One
Theft
So many of us think we’re safe when it comes to the Ten Commandments. Especially with the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal.” We think, “Well, I haven’t robbed a bank or broken into someone’s house.” But that’s far too narrow. Theft is taking what isn’t yours when you know the owner would not reasonably agree to it (CCC 2453).
So, we break the Seventh Commandment when we take what we do not deserve, give less than we owe, or keep what God entrusted to us for others. And once you see that, this commandment reaches into nearly every part of life.
Theft includes doing your work poorly on purpose, being paid for effort you don’t give.
It includes employers failing to pay a just wage or workers wasting time on the clock.
It can be overcharging or taking advantage of someone who has no better option.
It also includes failing to honor agreements, promising work or payment and not following through. Using company resources for personal use without permission is another form. So is taking credit for someone else’s work, or giving less than what was promised through dishonest effort or metrics. Not repaying debts when you are able, taking advantage of someone’s generosity, or damaging another’s property through negligence without making it right, all of this falls under theft. Because at its core, theft is not just about things. It is about justice in relationships.
Two
Taking More Than You Give
Let’s take a simple case. Someone pays you good money to do a job, and you do poor work. Lazy work. Work that is less than they have a right to expect. You are taking good money for bad work. That’s stealing.
Or suppose someone does good work for you, and you find a way to pay less than the work is worth. Less than what is fair for you to give and for them to expect. You are giving poor payment for good work. That’s stealing, too.
The same applies if you sell a product you know isn’t worth the price, or offer a service you know does not truly benefit the other person.
In every case, the pattern is the same: you are taking more than you give. Now it’s true, price and value can vary. Not everything has a perfectly fixed value. But justice still applies. If you knowingly take something that benefits you, while giving something you know does not truly benefit the other person, then you are not loving your neighbor as yourself, which is simply the Golden Rule. And you are breaking the Seventh Commandment.
Three
Stewardship, Not Absolute Ownership
If we want to live this commandment well, we have to get one thing straight: We are not absolute owners. We are stewards. God created the goods of the earth, land, food, and resources, for the benefit of every human person. This is called the Universal Destination of Goods.
At the same time, individuals have the real right to own property. This allows us to provide for our families, take responsibility, and contribute to society. Both are true. But here is the key: Private ownership is real, but it is not absolute. Everything we have is entrusted to us by God.
And it is meant to be used not only for ourselves, but also for the good of others, especially those in genuine need.
Jesus gives us a striking example in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man is not condemned for being rich. He is condemned because he ignored the poor man right in front of him. He treated what he had as if it were only his, instead of a gift entrusted to him for others.
Four
The Van
Think of a large family with a big passenger van. Sometimes kids come up with a system for seats, “I called it.” The one who calls the front seat first gets it. Everyone accepts the rules. But imagine the oldest kid says, “I call the front seat, and every other seat. No one else gets a seat today.” At that point, the parents step in, “No. That’s not how this works. This van exists so everyone can ride.”
The problem isn’t that one child has a seat. The problem is when one person takes so much that others cannot ride at all. Ownership is real, but it was never meant to exclude others from what they need to live. And that’s what happens when we treat what we have as if it exists only for us
instead of something entrusted to us for the good of all.
Five
Not a Rule, A Relationship
Theft is taking what belongs to another against the reasonable will of its owner. It is also for those who already have. So we have to ask: Am I taking more than I give? Am I giving less than I owe? Am I treating what I have as if it were absolutely mine? Or…Am I living as if what I have is simply mine rather than something entrusted to me by God for others?
The Catechism, quoting St. John Chrysostom, puts it sharply, “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” (CCC 2446)
That doesn’t mean we don’t truly own anything. It means we are accountable for how we use what we own. Because in the end, the question is not simply, “Have I taken what is not mine?” The deeper question is, “Have I kept for myself what God gave me for others to share in? So, the Seventh Commandment is not only about taking what isn’t yours. It is about how you respond to God Himself.”
The Commandments are not arbitrary rules imposed from the outside. They are the expression of who God is, Love, and who you are made to be, love.
So what happens when we break this commandment? We tend to think, “I broke a rule.” But that’s not what’s really happening. God offers Himself, Love in Person. And I say, “I choose something instead of You.” Because when I take more than I give, or give less than I owe, or keep for myself what God entrusted to me for others, I am not just failing in justice. I am refusing Him who comes to me.
Jesus makes this unmistakably clear in the Gospel of Matthew 25, “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” He has hidden Himself in the one who depends on me. So in the end, the question is not simply, “Have I taken what is not mine?” The deeper question is, “Have I chosen something instead of Him?” And that is where this commandment reaches the heart.