1 John 2:15-16

NASB – 15 Do not love the world nor things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but from the world.

NRSVUE – 15 Do not love the world or the things of the world. The love of the Father is no in those who love the world, 16 for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the prides in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world.

VOICE – 15 Don’t fall in love with this corrupt world or worship the things it can offer. Those who its corrupt ways don’t have the Father’s love living within them 16 All the things the world can offer to you—the allure of pleasure, the passion to have things, and the pompous sense of superiority—do not come from the Father. These are the rotten fruits of this world.

Love God Always

God’s creation is good, and we should receive His creation with gratitude. “The world,” in this context, refers to humanity’s rebellion against God. The values, pleasures, and patterns of life resist His rule. Christians are called to live without allowing the standards of society to shape our desires. John spoke this to his audience because they faced pressure to conform to pagan societies, immoral practices, and false teachings.

To love means that our hearts have a devotion, allegiance, and a changed direction of our heart that moves away from God. Attaching ourselves to the things of our current world over God can be harmful to us. Jesus teaches us that no one can devote themselves to two leaders. Loving God produces obedience, holiness, and a desire to please God. John is calling his audience, and us to self-examine our desires and repent the behaviors that aren’t in alignment with God.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: We’re going to look at Verse 16 in a moment, but when you first hear “the things of the world,” what does that bring to mind?

Things of the World

Let’s look at the command “Do not love the world…” and see what that looks like for us today. Then, we will dive in to the things John claims as the things of this world. The “love” that John describes is a feeling of long-lasting affection, devotion, and allegiance. The “world” describes an organized system that rebels against God. John is encouraging his audience, and us, to not devote ourselves to systems that go against the commands and will of God. When we do, we will find ourselves wrestling with how we can follow two systems of guidance and one will always triumph over the other. In a generalized sense, how can we ensure that we are staying aligned with God’s desires over the world’s?

First, we need to understand what rests in our hearts. What brings us joy? What brings us comfort? Is it something that embodies the grace and mercy of God or is something that embodies glorifying our own desires? When we self-reflect, we may find things that we thought were harmless that actually went against the teachings of God. In those moments, we may grieve and feel all the complicated emotions, but we will also move forward in a repentant mindset so that we can learn and envelop the teachings of God. Next, we filter what we take in via the media, conversations we have, and ambitions we feel through the words of Paul in Philippians 4:8. Paul lists out six things that we can look for when it comes to what we intake: true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. When it comes to understanding what we take in from the news, social media, or conversations from those around us, we must make sure that we take it at face value before we let it take residence in our hearts. We must run it through God first to see if it hits those six characteristics. If it does, then we can work with it deeper. If not, then we must discern whether or not it’s working for us. Then, we can focus on practicing generosity. This is mainly centered on giving away our excess and not hoarding them for selfish for fear-based reasons. When we can loosen the grips on our possessions, we start to separate ourselves from the mindsets of this world. We often hear teachings about keeping your money safe, you getting certain possessions in order to have a fulfilled life, and more. This is not of God. God wants you to prioritize content and gratitude, not obtaining possessions.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: When you reflect on the posture of your heart, what you feed it, and what possessions are holding you down, how can you free yourselves from the things of this world?

Breaking Things Down

The desires of the flesh shows us how we prioritize satisfaction over following God. The desires of our eyes leads to jealousy, and guides us away from being content in God’s provision. Human pride focuses on our possessions, positions, accomplishments, and tangible security measures. Our prides makes us forget how our lives, strengths, opportunities, and more comes from God.

Works of flesh include earthly satisfaction, jealousy, and pride. God wants us to focus His commands, His provision, and His promises. I think it would be important to take a biblical look at these three things to see if we can modernize how these look today.

Desires of the Flesh

Some examples of the works of the flesh are things like porn, overeating, impulse spending, and more. These are things that push us to find satisfaction and contentment with things that are outside of what God provides. It’s using the things of this world to satisfy our emotions instead of trusting that God will take care of us. Things can be okay in moderation, but these things can get out of hand fast if we don’t keep things in check through God.

Desires of the Eyes

The desires of the eyes pulls us into an intense craving for things that give us a temporary high. They may make us feel better in the moment, but do not last for entity. We can work on this through accountability. We can design our social media feeds to try and avoid things that bring out lust and jealousy in our minds. We can declutter our homes and workspaces, storing what may bring about our temptations. If needed, we can ask a friend to help us with staying accountable.

Pride of Life

When it comes to pride, these things may come to your mind: social-media culture, luxury branding, competitive lifestyles, even the church. People want to curate a specific identity to show to others because it may make them be more liked by others. They get self-absorbed into a competitive nature to try and get a massive following that they lose the ability to stay genuine and content with what happens off-feed. To avoid this mindset, we need to stay grateful, generous, graceful, and serving. Be grateful with what God has provided, generous with the excess, graceful in your words and actions, and stay willing to serve those around you.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Which of those works do you struggle with? How can you overcome with Christ?

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