• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

John 3:30

He Must Increase, I Must Decrease

  • Evangelism Schedule
  • Preaching and Sermons
  • Links
    • OUTREACH GUIDELINES
    • MY TESTIMONY
    • SUPPORT THE MINISTRY
    • THE GOSPEL
    • CONTACT
  • Posts by Category
    • Open Air Preaching
    • Theology
    • Witnessing
    • Just me
    • Memory Verses
    • Creation
    • Movie Reviews
    • Love

1 John 2:15

June 3, 2010 by Michael Coughlin

As far as 1 John 2:15 goes, Love not the world! For the record, the same words are used for LOVE, WORLD and THE as in the famous verse, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” So what does this mean? God the Father himself loved the world according to John 3:16; does He “not have the love of the Father in Him?” Of course not, God has a perfect love, and His delight and love for Himself is obvious and apparent. God could not NOT-LOVE himself. So what is this verse saying then?

I believe that there are two things we can gather here. First, our love for God ought to be so overwhelming, so STRONG, that our affection for the things of this world should pale in comparison. It should seem to people that you “are too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good.” That’s our goal as Christians. This has an implication that nonbelievers have much trouble swallowing, that is, that our love for Jesus Christ must be above our love for our own wife or husband and kids!

This is not enough though, and I’m sure, not the sole intent of this verse. Loving the Father the most, and truly loving Jesus Christ will result in a love for the things HE LOVES. It will also result in hatred for that which He hates. I’m talking about things like idolatry, adultery, theft and lying. (Proverbs 6:16-19) These are the things of the world to which this verse refers, for examples. Our affections should be for the types of things God love; why would we want anything less? If the God who redeemed you from your sin, and snatched you from the gates of hell does not love false religion, lying, superstition, adultery, murder, dishonoring of parents, sorcery, and idolatry, why would you? (Revelation 21:8) Why settle for anything less than that which is truly loveable?

What less obvious part of your life are you holding onto right now that God doesn’t love? How are you justifying it? Is it too much TV or internet? Are you maybe a little too fanatical about your sports team, and, thus, not always putting God first? If Jesus visited your Facebook page would He write “Well done my good and faithful servant” in a comment, or would He feel like an intruder on your life? Do you spend more time on idle tasks than reading the Word? What if your spouse could look over your shoulder when you’re on the internet, or see through your eyes at the mall, would he or she consider your heart loyal? God knows all those thoughts and actions…Do not love the world or the things that are in the world!

Filed Under: Love, Memory Verses, Theology Tagged With: apologetics, attributes of God, Bible, Christ, God, Grace, Jesus, Love, pride, Righteous, self-control

Primary Sidebar

My Budgeting App

You Need A Budget

The Bible Memory App I Use

The Bible Memory App - Bible Memory Verses

Recent Posts

  • ESV Preaching Bible, Black Goatskin Leather for Sale
  • More Lies and Clickbait Instead of Reporting Facts About Ohio Protests
  • Stimulating Your Thoughts About the Stimulus
  • Evangelism Schedule
  • New Podcast

Tags

2018 OSU abortion Adam apologetics attributes of God Bible catholicism Christ church Courageous Creation discipline end times evangelism Forgiveness glory gluttony God Gospel Grace Hollywood Holy humility Jesus Joy leadership logic Love Mercy Movies Ohio State Open Air Oracle people power prayer preaching pride programming Righteous savior Scripture self-control sin witchcraft

Recent Comments

  • Rusty on TTUN @ tOSU Ministry Report – Nov 24, 2018
  • A(nother) Surprising Work of God » Things Above Us on Nebraska @ tOSU Ministry Report – Nov 3, 2018
  • Mid-October 2018 Presuppositional Apologetics’ Links | The Domain for Truth on Minnesota @ tOSU Ministry Report – Oct 13, 2018
  • mcoughlin on Indiana @ tOSU Ministry Report – Oct 6, 2018
  • Jeff Mardling on Indiana @ tOSU Ministry Report – Oct 6, 2018

Categories

  • Creation
  • Gospel
  • Just me
  • Love
  • Memory Verses
  • memoryfeedmichael
  • Movie Reviews
  • Open Air Preaching
  • Prayer
  • Technical
  • Theology
  • Uncategorized
  • Witnessing
2018 © MichaelCoughlin.net

Copyright © 2023 · Things Above Us on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in