“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.” (I John 2:15-17 NIV)
When I opened up my computer this morning, this was the headline I saw on Yahoo: “Kim Kardashian Goes Without Underwear, Takes Bathroom Selfie With Kanye West: Picture.” Another talked about an actress who “rocked a teeny bikini” and also promises a picture. John referred to things like this as “the lust of the flesh and of the eyes.”
Daily, we are inundated with images intended to produce lust, whether it be for sexual arousal, material possessions, or power. It is the world in which we live and it differs little in its essence from the world in which John lived. His warning was not to love what the world offered. And the Greek word he uses, agape, is used to express the highest form of love. It comes from the same word as used in John 3:16. It means to have esteem or affection for another. So John is warning us not to esteem or have affection for whatever produces lust of the flesh or eyes, or, as he says, the pride of life.
The only way to do this in such a saturated world is to view what the world is offering up through the eyes of the Lord, and then decide whether or not it deserves our affection. If the conclusion is no, then we move away from it, averting our eyes and our thoughts, and focusing on what is godly.
This is a difficult task and requires us to be intentional. Otherwise, we will just be carried along by the standards of the world. Today, think about to what your heart, your thoughts, your eyes are drawn. Are they godly? Do they align with the will of the Lord as expressed in the Scriptures? If not, then you have some changes to make.
© Jim Musser 2013
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