1 John 2:15-17

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world – neither the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the world is not in him.  Because all the things in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the false arrogance that comes through possessions – are not out of the Father but they are out of the world.  And the world and its desires are being caused to cease to exist, but the one who does the will of God remains into the age.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We should be careful when reading passages like this.  John says to not love the world.  But this is different than hating the world.  After all, God created the world.  John tells us in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for it.  So we are not to hate the world as in to despise it and isolate ourselves from it.  But at the same time, we are not to pursue it.  We are not to desire the things of it.  We are to recognize that it is God’s creation and look for where He is at work in the world.  But we must balance this and be careful to not chase after these things so much so that the things of this world supplant God in our life.

Where do you struggle with loving the things of this world too much?  How do you go about that struggle?

Second Thought:

To make this point even more strongly, look at what John defines as the things of the world.  John talks about the desires of the flesh.  These are largely emotional urges like lust, anger, envy, power-hunger, jealousy, impatient, self-centeredness, etc.  John then talks about the desires of our eyes.  Here I think John is focusing even more intently upon things like jealousy, envy, coveting, and lusting.  And then talks about the possessions in the world.  Here John is talking about things that allow us to see ourselves as providing for ourselves rather than relying upon God’s provision.  When John looks to these things in particular he is looking to that which has the greatest potential to destroy community.

How do the things listed here destroy community?  Do you think the things listed here destroy community with God or the community with each other?  Why are we wise to avoid these things?

Third Thought:

There is an old DC Talk song that has always been a favorite of mine.  “Things of this World.”  The song talks about how when we devote our life to the things of this world we are devoting ourselves to a lack of permanency.  As John says, the things of this world are being caused to cease.  This is a passive verb.  God is acting upon the things of this world and ensuring that they do not have permanency.  Therefore, by definition only that which is in God has any kind of permanency.  So what is in God?  John gives us the answer at the end of this section.  The one who does the will of God remains into the age.  Again we see the importance of obedience.

Where are you obedient?  Where are you anchored in the things of God which are permanent?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 John 2:18-19