IS COVETING FORBIDDEN?

Exodus 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. (KJV) I Corinthians 12:31  But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. (KJV)

Coveting gifts is okay. Coveting that which belongs to your neighbor is not.  That someone would call this a contradiction shows that they put no thought into these passages.  Not a contradiction.