1 John 2:15-17
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17
John gives us a command to not love the world or anything in the world. What does this mean? He qualifies what he means by "anything in the world" in verse 16. He is talking about the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, the boasting of what he has and does. All three of these come from the world and all three are self focused. When I think of a craving, I think of something I have to have at the time to satisfy me. Sometimes I walk into the convenient store and walk around looking for something to satisfy my hunger. I carefully search for that one thing that I am craving for. There are things in life that we crave for that come from the world. We are commanded not to love those cravings. It is interesting that John doesn't command us not to have those cravings, but to not love them. We all have a sinful nature that craves the world and its desires, but we can overcome them through Jesus. How often do we fall into the trap of thinking that our "cravings" will satisfy us, but they only serve to make us a slave to them. People become slaves to sex, drugs, alcohol, lying, violence, or whatever. You only find its satisfaction to be temporary at best and need more. Do not love those cravings. We are commanded not to love the lust of the eyes. With our eyes we distort God's creation. With the eyes men treat women as a piece of walking flesh instead of a valued person that God created and loves. With our eyes we see money as a solve all in our life. We need not to love the lust of the eyes. We are also commanded to not love our boasting of what we have and do. When you do this, you are basically saying, "look at me...look what I have done for myself..." This might not seem so wrong, unless you look at it from God's perspective. Life is all about the glory of God. We were created to give glory to God! He is the focal point of life. Unfortunately, Satan has influenced folks into thinking that they themselves are the focal point of life. "Look at me! See how wonderful I am! Fall down and worship at my feet for a while!" This is what essentially is being said by those who boast. You see the things of the world will pass away, they are not eternal nor are they satiable. But the man who does the will of God will LIVE forever! I want to live! I mean really live!
God, I come to you admitting that I fall under the influence of the evil one at times. I know what those cravings are, I know what the lust of the eyes are, and the boasting. Forgive me for falling into the empty pit of worldly desires when you have offered me life. In You I am completely satisfied and in You I find life and peace. Fill me with a love for You that causes a healthy hatred for the things of the world. They are temporary and unfulfilling and diminish Your glory! May You be the love of my life!
John gives us a command to not love the world or anything in the world. What does this mean? He qualifies what he means by "anything in the world" in verse 16. He is talking about the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, the boasting of what he has and does. All three of these come from the world and all three are self focused. When I think of a craving, I think of something I have to have at the time to satisfy me. Sometimes I walk into the convenient store and walk around looking for something to satisfy my hunger. I carefully search for that one thing that I am craving for. There are things in life that we crave for that come from the world. We are commanded not to love those cravings. It is interesting that John doesn't command us not to have those cravings, but to not love them. We all have a sinful nature that craves the world and its desires, but we can overcome them through Jesus. How often do we fall into the trap of thinking that our "cravings" will satisfy us, but they only serve to make us a slave to them. People become slaves to sex, drugs, alcohol, lying, violence, or whatever. You only find its satisfaction to be temporary at best and need more. Do not love those cravings. We are commanded not to love the lust of the eyes. With our eyes we distort God's creation. With the eyes men treat women as a piece of walking flesh instead of a valued person that God created and loves. With our eyes we see money as a solve all in our life. We need not to love the lust of the eyes. We are also commanded to not love our boasting of what we have and do. When you do this, you are basically saying, "look at me...look what I have done for myself..." This might not seem so wrong, unless you look at it from God's perspective. Life is all about the glory of God. We were created to give glory to God! He is the focal point of life. Unfortunately, Satan has influenced folks into thinking that they themselves are the focal point of life. "Look at me! See how wonderful I am! Fall down and worship at my feet for a while!" This is what essentially is being said by those who boast. You see the things of the world will pass away, they are not eternal nor are they satiable. But the man who does the will of God will LIVE forever! I want to live! I mean really live!
God, I come to you admitting that I fall under the influence of the evil one at times. I know what those cravings are, I know what the lust of the eyes are, and the boasting. Forgive me for falling into the empty pit of worldly desires when you have offered me life. In You I am completely satisfied and in You I find life and peace. Fill me with a love for You that causes a healthy hatred for the things of the world. They are temporary and unfulfilling and diminish Your glory! May You be the love of my life!
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