Daily devotion – worldliness
1Jo 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
The Bible continually warns us to be careful about loving the world – but what exactly is worldliness? Some have misunderstood it.
Worldliness is an attitude, a spirit, an atmosphere that permeates the whole of human society. It is an attitude that puts self first and ignores God and His commandments. Its horizon is this present world, and it never gives a thought to God or to eternity.
It demonstrates itself in many different ways – in habits, in selfish pleasures, in a grasping for material things, in driving ambition, in exalting oneself at the expense of others.
The Bible teaches us to avoid anything God has described as sinful; of that there can be no doubt. But there are some things of daily life that are not necessarily sinful in themselves; they only become sinful if they are abused.
Pleasure is not always wrong – unless it is abused. Ambition is an essential part of true character – but if abused it can destroy us.
This week let us be on guard, lest a spirit of worldliness creep into your life. The Bible warns, “Do not love the world, or the things in the world.”