Christian Living

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Love Not the World

Worldliness is not so much a matter of activity as of attitude. It is possible for a Christian to stay away from questionable pleasure and doubtful places and still love the world, for worldliness is a matter of the heart. To the extent that a Christian loves the world system and the things in it, he does not love the Father.

Worldliness not only affects your response to the love of God; it also affects your response to the will of God. “The world passeth away but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:17). Doing the will of God is a joy for those living in the love of God. “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” But when a believer loses his enjoyment of the Father’s love, he finds it hard to obey the Father’s will.

When you put these two factors together, you have a practical definition of worldliness: anything in a Christian’s life that causes him to lose his enjoyment of the Father’s love or his desire to do the Father’s will is worldly and must be avoided. Responding to the Father’s love (your personal devotional life), and doing the Father’s will (your daily conduct)—these are two tests of worldliness.

Many things in this world are definitely wrong and God’s Word identifies them as sins. It is wrong to steal and to lie. Sexual sins are wrong. About these and many other actions, Christians can have little or no debate. But there are areas of Christian conduct that are not so clear, in which even the best Christians disagree. In such cases, each believer must apply the test to his own life and be scrupulously honest in his self-examination, remembering that even a good thing may rob a believer of his enjoyment of God’s love and his desire to do God’s will.

The world has three systems it uses to trap us: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The flesh” does not mean “the body.” Rather, it refers to the basic nature of unregenerate man that makes him blind to spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14). Flesh is the nature we receive in our physical birth; spirit is the nature we receive in the second birth. A Christian has both the old nature (flesh) and the new nature (Spirit) in his life. And what a battle these two natures can wage! (Gal. 5:17–23)

God has given man certain desires, and these desires are good. Hunger, thirst, weariness, and sex are not at all evil in themselves. There is nothing wrong about eating, drinking, sleeping, or begetting children. But when the flesh nature controls them, they become sinful “lusts.” It is important to note that no Christian becomes worldly all of a sudden. Worldliness creeps up on a believer; it is a gradual process. The world is passing away and we must be careful not to be conformed to this world lest we find ourselves being condemned along with this world. But he who does the will of the Father will abide forever. Remember my brothers and sisters we are “in” the world, but not “of” the world. Guard your heart for out of it flow the issues of life. God loves you and so do I…Pastor Tammy

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