"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15) We have often heard about the battle between good and evil. That statement is usually misconstrued to imply that good and evil has declared war on each other and so there is evil on one side fighting with good on the other side as depicted in our cover photo, so they will continue fighting until whoever wins carries the day! That is a wrong notion, and a great misconception. The truth is there is no fight or quarrel or war between good and evil (Evil and good are not fighting each other). The only war that exist is the struggle between good and evil to take over us. We are the object of the battle! They are not fighting each other, but are pushing to possess us. They both suggest, plead, reach out and speak to us so that we may yield to them. The one we yield to controls us. Today we study how to let good win in our lives as the concluding part of the series: "Love Not the World". God bless you as you read.
If you missed the firsdt two parts of this series, please kindly refer to them to carry along with this part:
Love not the world (part 1) - understanding the world, Love not the world (part 2) - a stern warning
3. Pride of life refers to the self indulgence in the world today. People will go to any length to project themselves. Today, people are more interested in themselves than in anyone else. It is now a dog-eat-dog society. The survival of the fittest. Look at the corruption in the world today, rebellion to God and constituted authorities, disobedience to parents - it all stems from pride and "I am the lord of myself" mentality.
The Bible says when we allow any of these three things to rule in our life, then we are loving the world, and invariably conceding the battle to evil. It says " Whosoever love the world, then the love of the Father is not in him". We cannot love the world, and still love the Father. It doesn't work. We cannot be evil and profess to be good. Good and evil cannot both win in our lives. One must win, and the other lose. One must be victorious and the other defeated. We are the referees, the umpires and the objects of this battle. We are to decide what wins in our lives.
If we want to have good reign in our lives, we must put away the world and its corrupt practices from our lives. The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life - these are the things that make up the world and its evil system. If we can do away with these things, then good will rule in our lives.
Prayer
Father, help me to have good win in my life. Give me the enablement to put away the world. Let my love be for you and you alone in Jesus name. Amen!