YOU CANNOT LOVE BOTH
Opening Prayer
Jesus, thank you for John and for the challenges to walk in truth offered in his epistles. Open my mind and heart to receive and apply what you inspired him to write; give me discernment to live a life consistent with your Word.
Read 1 JOHN 2:12–17
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Reasons for Writing
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
On Not Loving the World
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. 16 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. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Footnotes
- 1 John 2:15 Or world, the Father’s love
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In a healthy marriage, whether in real life or a fairy tale, partners only have eyes for one another. Where have you observed that kind of faithful devotion, or wished it were present?Holiness is not simply about morality. Ultimately, holiness flows from our fellowship with God. So, John addressed the believers as dear children whose sins were forgiven and who knew God. The older believers he addressed as fathers who know the unchanging God. The younger believers he addressed as young men who overcame the evil one by the Word of God living in them. Christianity is about a relationship with God worth fighting to enjoy.
A marriage involves genuinely loving someone and, therefore, not loving others in the same way. John moved, in verses 15 to 17, to remind the believers that as lovers of God they must not love the world. As with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the world around us continues to entice us away from devotion to God. The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes draw us with sensory overload. The pride of life swells the vanity within to pull us away from him. We cannot love the world and still love God.
Apply
How reassuring is it for you to know that he wants us to have eyes for only him?
Closing prayer
Lord God, thank you for your faithful love for me; reveal to me any part of my life that reflects a love for the world in place of you.
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