Do Not Love the World

1 John 2:15-17

English Standard Version (ESV)

Do Not Love the World

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. 16 For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[a]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

In these verses John is telling us what it means to love the world. When we hear that term, "The world," we need to know what it means. To love the world is to love all things that are finite and not of God. Things of this world will pass away with time. Our money will last as long as we are alive, but after we die, our money is meaningless. The glories of this world will fade away, but the glory of the Father will last forever. 

In verse 15, John tells not to love the world and if we do, the Father is not in him. When we become obsessed with worldly things like wealth, status, media, technology, or even people, we are being less obsessed about Christ. It diverts our attention away from what really matters and that is God. He defines what he means by the world in verse 16, "...the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions..." So the things of this world are the things that our sinful flesh desire. And when we long for these things, Christ is being pushed aside to make way for new things. 

He closes these verses in verse 17, "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." John is telling us that these desires will pass away, but if we remain faithful in the will of the Lord, we will abide in Him forever. It comes back to us abiding, or remaining, in Him. As worship leaders, we need to be on guard all of the time so we are not enticed by the sinful desires of this world. It is so easy for to become consumed with the coolest Apple products or any cool new toy that will "help us" with our worship music. But if we try to say no to the world on our own, we will fail. We must abide in Him always so that we can overcome the lusts of the world. Because as we do the will of the father, He will abide in us as we abide in him.