Why Shouldn't We Love the World? A Call to Undivided Devotion
Today, we confront a challenging but absolutely vital question for every believer: Why shouldn't we love the world? In a society that constantly bombards us with messages of pleasure, success, and material gain, it’s easy to drift into a subtle affection for the very things that God warns us against.
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Our base text, 1 John 2:15, delivers a clear and uncompromising command: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them."
This verse presents a stark choice. As Jesus Himself stated in Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." The principle extends beyond money; you cannot truly love God and the world at the same time. They are competing affections.
Let's unpack the profound reasons why God calls us to reject love for the world, and instead, to fix our hearts solely on Him.
I. The Call of the World
The world, in its spiritual sense, represents the system of human values, desires, and pursuits that are contrary to God's will and purpose. It issues a seductive call, but it is a call to destruction.
• It calls to sin – to seek selfish pleasure. The world beckons us to indulge our every desire, to live for immediate gratification. The rich fool in Luke 12:19 epitomizes this mindset: "And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’" This is the world's deceptive invitation: live for self, live for pleasure.
• It calls to slavery – sin enslaves. While promising freedom, the world actually leads to bondage. Jesus said in John 8:34, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." The world's allure traps us, and sin becomes a master that holds us captive.
• It calls to sensuality – to love pleasure more than God (2 Timothy 3:4). In his description of people in the last days, Paul notes they will be "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." This is the essence of worldliness: an idolatry of sensation and personal comfort above divine reverence.
Ultimately, the trajectory of this worldly call is clear: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23). The pleasures of the world are fleeting and lead to spiritual death.
C. Warning: Let us not fall into the world's attractive trap. The world is a cunning hunter, and its allure can be incredibly deceptive. We must be vigilant.
II. The Character of the World
Beyond its deceptive call, the very nature of the world system is antithetical to life and truth.
• It deceives – It disguises evil as good (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul warns that "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." The world, under the influence of Satan, constantly redefines right and wrong, disguising destructive practices as progressive or enlightened. It calls bitter sweet and sweet bitter.
• It destroys – It corrupts the human being completely (James 4:1). James asks, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?" Worldliness fosters covetousness, envy, and strife, leading to a complete moral and spiritual corruption of the human being.
• It condemns – Nothing is more valuable than the soul (Mark 8:36-37). The world offers temporary gain, but at what eternal cost? Jesus asks, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" The world's promises lead to condemnation because they prioritize everything but the eternal soul.
• It kills – Sin brings death, not life (James 1:15). "Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." The world, with its seductive allure to sin, is ultimately a harbinger of death – spiritual, and ultimately, eternal death.
III. The Control of the World
When we succumb to the world's influence, it begins to control our innermost being, shaping our attitudes, desires, and actions.
• Attitudes – It makes us enemies of God (James 4:4). This is a stark and sober warning: "You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." Our very disposition, our orientation, becomes opposed to God.
• Desires – Love of money and pleasures (1 Timothy 6:10; Matthew 6:21). The world instills in us cravings for material wealth and fleeting pleasures. "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus Himself taught, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21). If our hearts are fixed on worldly treasures, our desires are controlled by the world.
• Actions – Works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). When the world controls us, our actions reflect its influence. Paul lists the "works of the flesh" as things like "sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like." These are the fruit of a life controlled by the world, leading to the devastating consequence of not inheriting the Kingdom of God.
IV. The Pollution of the World
The world doesn't just influence; it contaminates, leaving its mark on our deepest faculties.
• It pollutes the mind – Fills it with vanity and foolishness (Romans 1:21). When people reject God, "their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." The world, with its secular philosophies and empty pursuits, fills the mind with vanity, useless speculation, and intellectual arrogance that blinds us to divine truth.
• It pollutes the heart – Fills it with evil (Matthew 15:19). Jesus taught, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." The world's influence corrupts the very wellspring of our being, filling the heart with all manner of evil.
• Only the pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8). Jesus declared, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." A heart polluted by the world cannot perceive or truly experience the holiness of God.
V. The Ransom from the World
The good news is that we are not destined to be victims of the world's call, character, control, and pollution. God has provided a ransom, a way to escape its grip and live a life transformed.
• Sincere repentance (Matthew 3:2): John the Baptist's message, echoed by Jesus, was "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." Repentance is turning away from the world and its ways, and turning towards God.
• Forgiveness of sins in Christ (Acts 2:37–38): Peter, after convicting the crowd on Pentecost, told them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Forgiveness through Christ's sacrifice cleanses us from the pollution of sin and breaks the world's hold.
• Faithfulness unto death (Revelation 2:10): Jesus calls us to unwavering loyalty: "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer... Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown." Our steadfastness in Christ is how we overcome the world.
The ultimate reason for not loving the world is its fleeting nature. 1 John 2:17 assures us: "The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." The world will pass away, but those who do God's will remain forever.
We cannot physically leave the world, as Jesus acknowledged in His prayer for His disciples: "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:11). And He prayed, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." (John 17:15).
But we can overcome it:
• Not by loving the world, for that is a path to enmity with God.
• By being transformed (Romans 12:2): "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
• Remembering that we are not of the world (John 17:14): Jesus said, "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world."
Conclusion
My dear friends, the choice is clear and foundational to our Christian walk. We are called to live as children of God, not as friends of the world. For the Scripture warns us powerfully in James 4:4: "You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."
May our hearts be undivided in their devotion to God. May we actively resist the world's seductive call, recognize its destructive character, break free from its control, and cleanse ourselves from its pollution. May we live as those who have been ransomed from its power, transformed by Christ, and ultimately, destined for an eternal home that is not of this world.
Amen.
