When we read 1 John 2:15-17, we are commanded by God, not to love the world. Now, what does that mean, and how can we not love the world, in which we are created to live in?
When God commands us not to love the world, he does not mean not loving the nature, the animals, or other things, which are the creation of God. Just the opposite. God wants us to enjoy the nature, and being with animals, because he put the animals and nature, to be with the first man Adam, from the very beginning.
When God commands us not to love the world, he means all those sinful things happening in the world, through people who do not know Christ, and who rebel against God, and what he has commanded.
In 1 John 2:16, the Bible mentions three things, and those three things, are the ones, which God has commanded us, not to love. What are they? The are the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (NIV).
The lust of the eyes could be the fact, that our eyes, never have enough to look at. We want always to look for more, to see more. Now, there are good things in this world, which our eyes long to look at, but there are also bad things in this world, which are in conflict with heaven, and please only hell. Those are the things God does not want us to look at. Why, because our eyes are the windows of our soul, and what we see, enters our soul, and becomes part of our memory and mind. Jesus said that when our eyes are healthy, our whole body is full with light - Luke 11:34. God wants us to look more, at the things that will build us up in his ways, and one of the way those things get into us, is trough our eyes. May the Holy Spirit help us to look at the right things daily, because if he does not help us, we will definitely look sometimes, at the wrong things, and possibly even fall into the temptation of doing the wrong things.
The lust of the flesh, are the many things, our flesh desires, and the many things, our sinful nature in us desires to accomplish too. Even as Christians, we struggle everyday, against the our flesh, and the sinful nature in it. Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 7, that nothing good lives in our bodies and that he sees another law, the work of the sinful nature in his body, which makes him to do the things, he does not want to do, that is sin. We are between the desires of the Holy Spirit who lives in us as Christians, and the sinful nature living in our bodies, and we desire to do what the Holy Spirit wants, but the lust of the flesh, that is the lust of our sinful nature in our bodies, wants us to sin, and do the wrong things, so we are in a battle very day, with the option to chose what the Holy Spirit in us wants, or what the sinful nature in us wants. The choice is ours.
And the pride of life. What is that? Well, that is being proud, with the status we have achieved in life. For example, if I have made millions of dollars, through my business, most people out there in the world, would consider me successful, influential and intelligent. And if I am a beggar on the street, most people in the world, would consider me a failure. Now read James chapter 2, and see what God says about that. God has a different way of looking at our success, which is 100% different, from what most people out in the world, consider to be a success. God looks at success, with its eternal values, but men of this wold, look at success, only with its earthly values. What people in this world, consider a success, is a failure in the eyes of God, and what God considers as success in the life of man, is failure in the eyes of the world.
MORE: Love Builds Up Knowledge Puffs Up
Love builds up knowledge puffs up
When God commands us not to love the world, he does not mean not loving the nature, the animals, or other things, which are the creation of God. Just the opposite. God wants us to enjoy the nature, and being with animals, because he put the animals and nature, to be with the first man Adam, from the very beginning.
When God commands us not to love the world, he means all those sinful things happening in the world, through people who do not know Christ, and who rebel against God, and what he has commanded.
In 1 John 2:16, the Bible mentions three things, and those three things, are the ones, which God has commanded us, not to love. What are they? The are the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (NIV).
The lust of the eyes could be the fact, that our eyes, never have enough to look at. We want always to look for more, to see more. Now, there are good things in this world, which our eyes long to look at, but there are also bad things in this world, which are in conflict with heaven, and please only hell. Those are the things God does not want us to look at. Why, because our eyes are the windows of our soul, and what we see, enters our soul, and becomes part of our memory and mind. Jesus said that when our eyes are healthy, our whole body is full with light - Luke 11:34. God wants us to look more, at the things that will build us up in his ways, and one of the way those things get into us, is trough our eyes. May the Holy Spirit help us to look at the right things daily, because if he does not help us, we will definitely look sometimes, at the wrong things, and possibly even fall into the temptation of doing the wrong things.
The lust of the flesh, are the many things, our flesh desires, and the many things, our sinful nature in us desires to accomplish too. Even as Christians, we struggle everyday, against the our flesh, and the sinful nature in it. Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 7, that nothing good lives in our bodies and that he sees another law, the work of the sinful nature in his body, which makes him to do the things, he does not want to do, that is sin. We are between the desires of the Holy Spirit who lives in us as Christians, and the sinful nature living in our bodies, and we desire to do what the Holy Spirit wants, but the lust of the flesh, that is the lust of our sinful nature in our bodies, wants us to sin, and do the wrong things, so we are in a battle very day, with the option to chose what the Holy Spirit in us wants, or what the sinful nature in us wants. The choice is ours.
And the pride of life. What is that? Well, that is being proud, with the status we have achieved in life. For example, if I have made millions of dollars, through my business, most people out there in the world, would consider me successful, influential and intelligent. And if I am a beggar on the street, most people in the world, would consider me a failure. Now read James chapter 2, and see what God says about that. God has a different way of looking at our success, which is 100% different, from what most people out in the world, consider to be a success. God looks at success, with its eternal values, but men of this wold, look at success, only with its earthly values. What people in this world, consider a success, is a failure in the eyes of God, and what God considers as success in the life of man, is failure in the eyes of the world.
MORE: Love Builds Up Knowledge Puffs Up
Love builds up knowledge puffs up
