9. Godly love…
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes, not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15-17
Oh boy – this is a tough one and I thought to skip over it. But there it is in John’s letter to Christians in the early churches. Do not love the world or anything in the world…
When we place our first love in the things of the world, we become hedonistic, consumed by negative desires. The world can never fully satisfy us, never return our love. Ultimately love for anything or anyone before God will leave us unsatisfied, bitter, empty. I am reminded of a Janis Joplin song from the 1960s:
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me
A Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches
I must make amends
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me
A colour tv?
Dialling For Dollars
Is trying to find me
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me
A night on the town?
I’m counting on you, Lord
Please don’t let me down
The song demonstrates how worldly things can become so important to us that we even turn it into a request to God…
In contrast, many churches and Christians have used these verses, and similar ones in James 4, to justify separation from the world, cloistering, isolation, to avoid becoming polluted by the world. Others have used them to ensure Christians live a serious life with no fun or enjoyment – avoiding colour, dressing conservatively.
This is a beautiful world, bright and creative reflecting our Creator’s loving nature. Love for God means we live within his desires and plans for us in his world. We can fully enjoy life. We can live big and meaningful fulfilled lives loving God first. We can immerse ourselves in the colour, the beauty, the majesty of God’s creation. We can enjoy having a great car, a good bottle of wine, beautiful clothes. Everything comes from the world God created for us to care for.
However, we must also be able to hold all these things in an open hand as Paul did. Ready to give them up if that is what is needed of us, to be able to say confidently that the love of the world is not in us:
I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13
Prayer: Lord, thank you again for this amazing world you have created for my enjoyment. For the colour, the diversity, the majestic mountains, and expansive seas. Thank you for the ability to be creative, imaginative, experimental as I live out my days in your world. I place all my love, first and foremost, in you and desire to be all that you created me to be. How exciting…
Amen
Action: Today, live your daily life seeking always to love God first in everything you do, every decision you make.
Journal your thoughts…
