“15 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)
Who do you love most? Like most people, you might find giving God His proper place in your life difficult. Your flesh and your ego desperately try to maintain control. You love other things when your love for God should be first and foremost in practice and principle. But you’re not God; without Him leading and guiding you, your end will always be self-destructive (Proverbs 3:5-6, 14:12). You need a powerful, life-transforming love for God.
God is love (1 John 4:8). This is often misinterpreted without a broader context of God’s other attributes. God’s love is holy and perfect. It’s far beyond your conceptions of love. Your love void can only truly be fulfilled through Him. He made you to be in the right relationship with Him (Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 1:13; John 3:16-17, 6:40). Do you desire God above all things? Is He your priority, passion, pursuit, dearly beloved possession? Put another way, have you ever been obsessed with and addicted to Jesus? Strange concept, I know, to take a negative and make it a positive, even though God is the only Person worthy of pursuit.
Pursue Jesus! Will you surrender doing things your way, including an improper love of the world? Will you give God His proper place? Will you yield your will? Either you, alone, try to withdraw your unworthy worldly affections unsuccessfully, or you fixate on a new and better Love worthy of all attachment. One leads to despair, and the other to peace, contentment, hope, joy, and true love.
Replace yourself with Jesus! The key is not to try to remove the world from your heart – not on your own, and certainly not without anything worthy to replace. The key is letting God into your heart and allowing Him to expel the world from within you as He returns it to Himself. Remove and replace this improper love for the world (Romans 12:2; John 3:30).
The Problem With Worldly Affections
“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity…. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14)
This world is temporary and unsatisfactory. Since nothing in this fallen world lasts or fulfills what you believe it promises, you are left empty (Matthew 6:24). You desire without ever experiencing lasting possession. You possess without maintaining an everlasting desire! How vain are the things of the world!
Be willing to let it all go. Continuing to pursue unsatisfactory affections will only cause you to continue suffering. You will exhaust yourself and be found wanting again, leaving an ever-expanding void that only the eternal God can fill. And He does desire to fill it (John 4:14; Matthew 7:7-8). No matter how much you desirously pursue or indulgently possess, you are left feeling empty and in excruciating pain. The problem cannot be solved by pursuing more or possessing more.
Be willing to pick up Jesus instead. Having no affection at all is worse than having a bad one. No motivation to seek or strive for meaning is pure agony. Life would appear unbearably superfluous. Without an interest in anything, motivation, or love to set your heart upon, you see the world with loveless eyes and your meager existence as meaningless. It’s hard enough jumping from one thing to the next on the hunt for purpose. But nothing compares to the blunt force of reality that all is vanity in this life.
Jesus wants you to approach Him. But perhaps you wonder if He can honestly fill you up! What you deeply fear is emptiness, nothingness. Your heart and mind will cling to any affection – no matter how destructive – because it is better than the void. You cannot help but return to your vain attempts to find a gratifying worldly affection. It is an impulse, an instinct, grander than your will to resist (Proverbs 14:12). But that is all the more reason why you must lay hold of Jesus, place your trust in Him, surrender with humility, and ask Him to fill you with Himself.
Take a chance on Jesus. It’s either Him or doing what you’ve always done (no matter how insane). Recognizing the futility of it all is not enough to stop you from pursuing them. It’s not enough to demonstrate that worldly pleasures and desires are fleeting. After all, it is far preferable to set your heart on the wrong things than to have no heart left to set upon anything. Humans, who have never tasted of God, can only hope for what they can experience on a worldly plane. But God invites you to taste of Him (Psalm 34:8)!
Jesus satisfies a fully surrendered heart. Without something of significant meaning and purpose, with enduring satisfaction, you are left with a hole in your soul. You feel lonely, in pain, and even abandoned. But thank God He made a way for you to be complete (Romans 8). But that way requires that you get out of the way (1 Peter 5:5-6).
You were made by God and for God. You and this world you are living in are not the answer to the God-shaped hole in your soul. The natural man convinces himself that morality, outside of his Maker, is enough, that if his works are enough, then he can save himself and be with God, with whom he has no relationship yet thinks he will spend eternity.
Redirection
“24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)
Make the switch to Jesus. What works, though temporarily, is switching pursuits. You may pursue one thing and then suddenly stop to follow something else. Your mind can only fixate on one clearly defined thought at a time, much like your eyes can only focus on one point in space. With this in mind, what would happen if you switched to pursuing God, who is worthy? Is it the magical switchboard of the mind, suddenly removing all unhealthy and unhelpful worldly pursuits and possessions? No. But also, yes.
You must surrender daily to Jesus. Justification is all Jesus, but sanctification is a joint partnership that requires your obedience. It’s not an instant cure-all because your sanctification is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:13). This is a lifestyle change in how you do your whole life. Such a change helps you to reprioritize, readjust, and refocus on Him. It takes time to see the fruit, but change will happen when done with devotion and ongoing surrender. Are you willing to go to any lengths necessary to be with your Lord?
Keep your eyes on Jesus. You must fix your gaze on your Creator, not on His creation. When you do, a revolutionary change begins to unfold. A hearty transformation is a gradual death of self and awakening of life in God. The desire for the former dissipates when the desire for the latter materializes. Preparing for an eternal life with God is what enables you to prepare to forgo the temporality and vanity of this physical existence.
The Only Worthy Obsession
“6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6-7)
Jesus is worthy of endless pursuit. There is only one way to recover from unworthy worldly passions and pursuits. Your heart needs something worthy of infinite interest and fascination, which keeps you occupied. You need a powerful affection for God (Matthew 22:37-38; Luke 14:26) by understanding the depths of His love for you (Ephesians 3:17-19)! This is the promise of an eternal possession (Hebrews 9:15; 2 Corinthians 5:1; 1 Peter 2:9). It is what your heart has been longing for and searching desperately for – the heart of Christ (Psalm 63:1, 73:25). Only then can you be content in all things and be at peace with being in the world but not of the world (Philippians 4:11).
Fix your mind onto your beautiful Saviour! Actively think of Him in all situations. Ask Him to take up residence in your mind and help you continually dwell on Him and His Word. Begin fervently desiring God. Your priority is growing your relationship with God. Let Him be the source of everything you need and desire (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Surrender all things into His capable and loving hands (Galatians 2:20).
The way forward is less of you and more of Him. You are the problem. God is the solution. You need to become less, and He needs to become more (John 3:30)! You need reality. God made you to pursue and possess… Him! Surrender to the Person worthy of your affection.
Does God have your entire interest? Are you obsessed with Him? Dare I ask, are you addicted to Him? Do you long to hang out with Him? Are you fascinated by Him? Have you accepted that God is the only reality you can rightly desire? Is He your first love, your highest priority?
See challenges as opportunities to connect with God. Don’t be dismayed. This is a challenging and lifelong journey. But have hope; your Lord and Savior have overcome the world (John 16:33). Follow Him, one step and one day at a time. Seek Him as if your life depends on it (Psalm 42:1; Isaiah 55:6-7). The regenerated heart of God’s divine workmanship enables you to willfully surrender your life in service to God – not because you have to but because you have a growing desire to (1 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 2:13). Start by praying for the willingness to grow in your relationship with Him and be of service to Him.
Continuously remember His love, grace, and forgiveness. No matter where you are in your relationship with Jesus, you can never run this well dry. Even with a growing thirst, like a deer panting in the wilderness (Psalm 42:1), and the paradox of everlasting satisfaction through never thirsting again (John 14:4).
Jesus is forever with you. This well is both an eternal pursuit and an eternal possession. Drink of Him, and let your cup run over! Be satisfied in what you experience, yet be satisfied in wanting to experience more of Him! Have a thirst to experience more of Him, and yet never thirst for more than God’s portion for you beyond right now. What a beautiful mystery. God calls you to Himself. It is His desire that you desire Him (Psalm 145:19)! Wholeheartedly seek God while He may be found! (Isaiah 55:6-7).
How
“21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
The natural man knows only the natural affections (1 Corinthians 2:14). Even the recently regenerated heart has a long way to go to learn that God alone is the path to godliness (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4). To destroy your old nature without the life-changing shift of a new nature is to desolate yourself of any nature. To eliminate your affections out of legalism, morality, asceticism, or nihilism is not conducive to a new nature. In a works-based system, you will distrust either your ability or God’s willingness to save such a depraved and hopeless creature as yourself! Rest assured, Christ died once for all (Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 3:18)! The condition is that you believe (Hebrews 11:6; Romans 1:16). The point of a new nature is that it is both new and a nature to have.
The natural world is passing away. With time and help, all the former things of your nature will be done away with (2 Corinthians 4:16). Fortunately, you will not be left in a vacuum. The love of the world can only legitimately be replaced by the greater love of God (John 3:16; Romans 8:28). You will find a genuine, lasting, and ever-growing love for God, the One who has given you newness of life (Romans 6:4; Ephesians 4:24).
Voluntarily surrender now. Destruction of the old is primarily God’s work, achieved through the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:13). Your responsibility is to obey God’s instructions as they unfold in your life (1 Peter 1:13-16). Let the Spirit enable you to replace your affections with God. The high calling of obedience in Christ can only be encouraged and empowered in you by God alone (Acts 5:32; 2 Timothy 1:7). God calls you, and where He calls, He equips.
Bask in His love! The more you learn to love God, the more you can let go of the world. God gives you the growing capacity for this as He desires all your love, affection, and attention. Not that He needs you, but rather because He knows you need Him (John 15:5; Romans 8:32; 2 Corinthians 5:18; Hebrews 13:5-6)! It is a lifelong process in which your heart is drawn closer to God and further from your fleshy former nature.
Let God do His work in you! It is God who enables a sinner to develop a new affection, a new heart, transformed by the love of God. But unbelief prevents the natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14). He cannot discern the perfect love of God demonstrated through Jesus’ atonement and suffering for the sins of His creatures. All is a mystery to him – dare I say insanity – he cannot comprehend (Romans 8:5-10)! Worldliness to godliness – what a mystery to the worldly man (Colossians 1:26-27). Yet, what a revelation to the surrendered man!
What now? Do you believe it? Do you obey? Is God supreme in your life? Do you actively seek a reconciled relationship with Him, without fear and shame, because you know, believe, and trust in the peace, pardon, and freedom found at the cross of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer?
The Gospel
“4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)
“24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
Do you believe it? The worldly man must first believe in the complete salvation offered freely through Jesus (Hebrews 11:6; Ephesians 3:6). And the saved man must wilfully surrender his entire life into the care of God – as Lord (James 4:8-10; John 15:7; Galatians 2:20; Matthew 16:25). Is He your Saviour and Lord? Only then can the mysterious godliness unravel as a life-long revelation, with the growing desire for a new affection.
Salvation is through Jesus alone. Being saved by grace through faith in the complete and perfect works of Jesus on your behalf is the only way to a spiritually transformed and devoted heart that expels ungodliness. It is the most beautiful gift imaginable if you receive it. The Gospel is revolutionary because it is the only proper pathway to peace within your soul, your relationships, and between you and your Maker.
It is a gift! There is absolutely no merit of work involved by you! Such freedom of the Gospel eliminates any fear of attainment by your ability. Salvation is God’s work, not yours (Romans 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)! You can do nothing to pay for it or earn it for yourself. As a born-again believer, you are eternally secure (John 3:16, 10:28). Your responsibility is in your obedience to the ongoing sanctification of your soul (Romans 8:5; 1 Corinthians 6:15-20).
You cannot outdo God’s love and grace. The Gospel allows you to finally see the loveliness of God (1 John 4:7-13), to boldly place your eternal confidence in Him to wash away your shame (Hebrews 12:2; Romans 8:1), and to give you hope in Him (Titus 1:2; Matthew 12:21; Romans 15:12) and a desire for Him (Psalm 37:4; Philippians 4:13). It is God you have offended (something you cannot understand the depths of). Yet, God grants you a new life with Him – with merciful pardon and gracious righteousness through Jesus.
He first loved you! The love of God gave you faith to love God in return. Keep the love of God nearer to your heart than anything else. Protect it. Build up your faith continually. Practice denying the world as you fill yourself up with God. Let your cup run over!
Approach God with boldness and confidence. As a saved person, that worldly wall of partition that once placed you out of God’s presence is torn in two (Matthew 27:51). The holiness of God, in Jesus, is your safety. No longer does God view you as an offender of His holiness (Romans 3:22-26). You are reborn into the holiness of His Son (John 3:1-17; Romans 8:29-30), made spiritually new (2 Corinthians 4:16; Colossians 3:10), and in right standing with the Father (1 John 2:29; Romans 5:1-2). Call on God, and He will draw His presence near to you (James 4:8; Psalm 16:8, 145:18)!
How beautiful is the Gospel! The Gospel eliminates your shame. There is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). Your conscience can be at ease (Hebrews 10:22; 1 Corinthians 1:12). You are being sanctified (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Meditate on God’s Word, day and night (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2)! Dwell on God’s love for you (Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9-10; Jude 1:21). Dwell on good things (Philippians 4:8). Pray for God to help you eradicate worldliness from you.
“1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
“1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4)
