Problem: One of the Ten Commandments says, “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17). Yet Paul encourages the Christian church at Corinth to “covet earnestly the best gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31, kjv).
Solution: “Covet” is used here in the good sense of “earnestly desire” (nkjv), rather than in the bad sense of an unlawful craving of what does not belong to us.