From an early age, all of us are taught that stealing is wrong.  If something does not belong to us, then we do not have the right to take it for our own use or damage it.  “The seventh commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping goods of one’s neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods” (CCC2401).  The principle reason for this is that each person has been entrusted by God with the earth and its resources, and the result of our labors is the blessings given to us by God.  Every person has the right to earn a living through work to support themselves and family, and each person has the right to the fruits of their work. 

              The commandment forbids direct theft, which is the taking of another’s property.  We cannot go to someone’s property or business and take something because we want it.  The unjust taking and keeping property does expand beyond literal theft.  It also includes the deliberate keeping of property that was rented or borrowed, failure to fulfill a contractual agreement, business fraud that causes people to spend their money in a way that was not done in good faith, paying unjust wages, and price gouging to take advantage of particular hardship situations (CCC 2409).  Sometimes, one will agree in one way or another to the financial arrangement, but we must remember that just because the other agrees to the arrangement does not mean that we are not still stealing.  Respect and dignity to our neighbor, who is also created in the image of God, must still be respected and not taken advantage of. 

              Certain things that fall into this category also include corruption that manipulates another’s judgment in proper spending, work poorly done, tax evasion, forgery of checks and other financial statements, and excessive or wasteful spending (CCC 2409).  Even damaging someone else’s property without reparation is also stealing since the object they own has now diminished in value from the damage.  There are many more things that could be listed, but the main principle to remember is that any interaction with our neighbor that results in damaging the other financially to our benefit is considered a violation of the seventh commandment.  Even if something does not violate civil law, it can still break this commandment.

              Games of chance (things we typically see as gambling) are not in themselves contrary to this commandment.  The violation of this commandment occurs when one gambles away the wealth of themselves or others that deprives them of being able to support themselves or others.  When gambling becomes an addiction, it becomes a surrender of the will to the addiction. We should always strive to never surrender our will to anything or anyone other than God. 

              Intellectual property is included in the application of this commandment.  Schools take plagiarism and cheating very seriously.  Both are a violation of this commandment, because it claims the ownership of information that is not property belonging to the person.  Even if the other person allows one to cheat from their information, it is still considered to be cheating if the work is claimed as one’s own.  There are situations that, even when given permission, results in the breaking of this commandment.