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Do Not Love The World

             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. (I John 2:15-16)

I often tell people that the first task in any discussion is the definition of terms. I thought perhaps the Greek word translated love above was the term for platonic or erotic love, but it’s not. It’s what we call “agape love.” Most of the other words are clear – except the word for life. It doesn’t refer to biological life, but to a lifestyle.

With those in mind, we are commanded not to love the world. In most of the religions of the time, the gods were nature gods. In one sense, those who worshipped said gods were closer to the land than they were to the gods, who tended to be their means to influence nature. Some were willing to sacrifice their children to persuade the gods to perform their responsibilities. Today, this is the direction love of the world is going. It’s not that gods of nature are worshipped, but that nature is, and it takes the place of God.

According to Scripture, man was created, at least in part, to rule over the plants and animals of the world, so not loving the world doesn’t involve the abuse of the world. There is no dichotomy here. We are to be good stewards. This is why I encourage you to do some research and replace about 1/3 of your lawn with better plants. But this kind of love is not the kind being described. Agape love is a sacrificial love. We are not called to give up our lives for the cosmos.     

Instead, we are supposed to love God enough to sacrifice our time, energy, and lives on His behalf, even as He did His. Our lives shouldn’t be about feeling good or looking good, but about doing good.

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