Today as I was scrolling through instagram, a photo of a 16 carat ring next to a cup of coffee caught my attention. I clicked on the picture and creeped on her page for longer than I should have. I came across a post of hers that said, “I do not celebrate xmas, but I sure wouldn’t mind seeing ‘this’ under my tree this year.” ‘This’ was referring to a 20 carat diamond ring. I’m actually laughing while I type this because none of this is an exaggeration. Her 16 carat ring was not good enough for her. Her 20 carat ring will still not be good enough for her. She will continue to look for the next biggest thing for the rest of her life because nothing of this world, including a 20 carat diamond ring, will satisfy her heart. It will not satisfy any of our hearts.
This summer, the Lord has called me to do several “heart checks” on myself and the struggle of loving the world has become pressed onto my heart. Loving the world all comes down to comparison, earthly satisfaction, temporal feelings, etc–all of which we will not experience in Heaven–thank God. As I sit here and write this, my heart actually hurts because while these “temporal things” satisfy us for a brief moment, we will continually be chasing the wind if we do not find our satisfaction in Christ alone. Lost is the word that comes to my mind when I think of this conviction–continuously searching for and wishing for things on this earth to satisfy us when nothing other than the creator of the human heart will.
1John2:15 says, “Do not love this world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of this world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
When we read verses like this, we cannot skip over the parts that are hard to hear. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Loving the world prevents fellowship with God, and those who have truly experienced the love of the Father, will not love the world. The things of this world are in no way even comparable to the love of our Father, and that is why if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you.
So, what does it mean to love the world? Three things.
- The lust of the flesh-This refers to physical temptation, specifically sexual sin.
- The lust of the eyes-This refers to greed, jealousy, or even excessive self-indulgence.
- The pride of life-This refers to the desire to be recognized because of your own works.
Satan uses all of these three things to destroy our fellowship with God. Ever notice how sexual temptation, success, and extravagance are all appealing? That’s what Satan does and who he is. He does not come dressed in black and red with pointy ears, he comes dressed in everything you’ve ever wanted, and that is how he distracts believers from God. As believers, we have to recognize what is temporal and what is not in order for us to stay on the path of obedience. I will close this post with one question:
Are we using our talents, money, and success to serve God and to love others, or are we using it for our own name?
i love you all!
-H
Life as an Alexander 