Who Do You Love

Introduction

1 John 2:15–17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

Every realm in this life has a system. Your home essentially has a system of belief that you’ve built, values that you have stitched in the fabric of your being and customs that have been passed down for generations. The job you work at has a system. Verses 15 through 17 provide a sense of warning and a sense of encouragement. We are instructed in this text to not love the world or the things in the world. Loving the world sacrificially and unconditionally is a recipe for disaster. To love the world is to fall in love with the temporary, meanwhile loving things, people or a system that does not love you the same way in return. God’s love is proactive and sacrificial. The love of the world is based on one condition, that you keep the customs of sin and the ways of the enemy.

Overcoming the power of lust, overcoming the power of desire as it pertains to pride, the things we look at and the possessions we can obtain begins with finding contentment in the provisions that God has made for our lives. I believe we have to be honest with ourselves, the world has a lot to offer. The things the world offers the pleasures of the world are appealing. If they weren’t appealling no one would fall vicitm to sacrificing faith for status, material possessions and popularity within this world.

Matthew 16:26 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Be careful what you prioritize, be careful what you invest in. The return you recieve might not be worth the time you spent dedicated to a system that God never intended you to be a part of.

Don’t Fall Victim to the Wrong System

“Do Not” signifies the fact that this is a command. The world nor the things of the world should be something that we prioritize to a place in which our life is guided by the customs and the culture of the world.

Commercial break: Understnad that this not easy, but it’s worth it.

Regardless of your belief system to be guided by desire reflects a lack of discipline and emotional instability.

Nonetheless it’s imperative that we understand that it’s impossible to serve two masters therefore it is impossible for us to claim that we love God but allow ourselves to be driven by the desires of the flesh.

Either you will hate one or despise the other! According to Matthew 6:24.

What are these things of the world that we should refrain from loving.

Desires of the flesh

Desires of the eyes

Pride of life

It’s important that we discover what those tenets of world love are. The challenge is they enter our life subtely. They do not come from God, although they bring a sense of pleasure they are temporary even if you devote your entire life to it, it can derail your eternity. It’s pertinent that we understand life ends, and we’ll be held accountable.

What are the things of the world? Sin is sin, nonetheless to love the desires of the flesh and eyes, to be so enamored by the pride of life that it guides decisions can destroy your life. When the author suggest that the world is passing away it is essentially a situation that suggest the deterioration of this world, similar to our life, every day that we wake up is a testament to the fact that we have one less day that we had the day before. Truth be told the world and the things in the world are some of the most inconsistent portions of our life. The love of God is consistent, the love of Jesus is consistent, the power of God is consistent. The world does not possess the same power.

Proverbs 27:20 “Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.”

There is no such thing as satisfaction as it pertains to the will of the enemy. One Christian falls it’s on to the next, the world will never be a soft place to land.

The remedy is walking in the Spirit, focusing on the nature of God and doing whatever we can to embody the nature of God in our attitude, the goals we set, the jobs we take, the way we raise our families!

Galatians 5:16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Caught Up In Keeping Up

It’s possible to live what society would deem as a morally sound life but still miss the mark as it pertains to loving God. The pride of life as in the Christian Standard Bible refers to it as pride in one’s possessions. We can get so caught up in possessions, a bigger home, a better car, a bigger promotion so much so that we miss the opportunity to be grateful for God has done for us.

Matthew 6:19–21““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Not Loving the World Does Not Mean Isolation

Prior to this text John gives us a reminder, or a reasoning of why he is writing this to Christians, since we’ve taken care of the inside let’s take care of the outside.

The prior verses were an ode to understanding how we should operate with each other, but the idea of Christianity isn’t just about insulation. In some regard we have to operate within the world therefore we have to know how to conduct ourselves around people and in places that might not always ascribe to the same will that you ascribe to. In the world belief systems are different, customs are different therefore how we operate must be different. Love doesn’t mean refraining from a relationship with. Often times we isolate out of fear, nonetheless if it’s our duty to serve God and share the gospel what purpose does it serve to keep it amongst ourselves.

Defeat and Defeat

Defeating desire: How do we do that?

Understand that you aren’t missing out on anything.

Understand that obedience and righteous living does not make you immue to suffering. Times of suffering is when lust and pride look the most appealing.

Do no get caught up in the material status of those around you, stay in the will of God even when you look around and it seems everyone is doing better than you!

Do not fall in love with the system:

We’ve assumed that the world is rooted in music, movies and pop culture. Those are actually branches to a sinister system.

Jesus came to derail a satanic system that the world is. It’s completely contrary to the will and the Kingdom of God.

System of greed

System of power

System of capitalism

System of classism

Where a system of greed exist, Jesus tells us it’s better to give than to recieve.

Where a system of power exist that people are willing to take the lives of others, Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Where a system of capitalism and classism exist we have scripture that says in James 2:1–4“My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?”

Conclusion

We may claim to love God but when our descisions that impact are livelihood are guided by DESIRE, we are not operating from a position of faith.

What if I told you that all of those desires that were a part of a larger plan to keep you from spending eternity in fellowship with God. Let’s think about this for a second, understand that when your calling is big, the temptation is going to the big. Jesus wasn’t tempted with small things, the Devil sent the HOUSE!

He’ll ensure that you get the entire world if it means your soul is destroyed!