Love not the world

1 John 2:15-17, ”Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust  thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”

Colossians 3:2, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Love means to be deeply committed or connected to someone or something; strong affection for. We are supposed to focus our love, our affection, to Jesus and the Father. We need to use our time here on the earth to serve our Creator, above and beyond anything on this earth. Our affection needs to be centered on Jesus and His word. 

Jesus told a parable in Luke 14. 

16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Nothing should come between us and our relationship with Christ. He needs to be put first in everything we do. In the parable above, those who were invited to the supper each put something else more important than attending the feast. They all loved something more.

In verse 26 above, when its says, “and hate not his father” and so on, the word hate used here is not what most people think of as “hate”. Hate in this verse when looked up in a concordance is “miseo” in Greek, which means “to love less”. So our love towards God needs to be greater than anyone else. Obviously we need to love each other, but God is the greatest love in our lives. Remember the first commandment is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbor. God and the things of heaven are first. 

Love of the world can cause someone to skip their prayers to the Lord. It can cause them to skip spending time at church or devotions. The love of the things on this earth can pull you away from the scriptures and make you forget how we are supposed to live. It can pull you away from spending time with your family.

We need to always remember what the Lord did for us. We need to remember the pain and suffering He endured. We need to remember that He did it for us while we were yet sinners. He did it for us even when we didn’t believe in Him yet! His incredible love to us should cause us to want to serve Him and live our lives for Him.

Remember, before you do something, put Christ first in your life. He will reward you.

In Christ,

Andrew