Chapter
4: The World’s Values
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man loves the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever: (I John 2:15-17)
Clearly the “worlds” values should not be those of a
Christian woman, however because we are forced to live in the “world” (so to
speak) we are regularly subjected to the “World’s Values”. Once we become adult’s, we should realize
that “peer pressure” doesn’t stop just because we have finished school. It is an ever present evil that nag’s
especially to those with a low self esteem.
Others were around on a daily basis (weather on our jobs, or those
through Media outlets such as Television, radio, Magazines etc are all trying
to influence you to become what they believe in. These all pull at our weakness’s to try &
make of think we need to change & be more like “them”.
As Christian’s we must always remember the warning from the above passage of 1
John 2:15-17
Lust
of the Eyes - (the scripture list “lust
of the flesh” first, but I chose to mention “Lust of the eyes” first because it
is often THROUGH this lust of the Eye, that we fall into the other “Lust”
mentioned.
Our hearts are filled through the
path of the eyes. What we see (and hear)
goes into our hearts. So we must be
careful to recognize those things that are not pleasing unto God and shield out
heart from them. Don’t allow those
things that “look good” to fill your heart & cloud your spiritual
judgment. These will cause us to take
actions that are not pleasing to our path to God. (Examples could be: keeping
up with the neighbors (from # of kids or what your kids do to the “man of your
house” to materialism)
Lust of the
Flesh - is a sinful actions brought about because of fleshly
desires. Sinful because it goes against
God’s commands but fleshly because it is simply pleasing to “one’s self”,
because of our lack of self discipline, allowing us to take action upon it. The actions itself does not necessarily have
to be a sin (going to an amusement park as opposed to adultery), however if
that non sinful desire causes you to go against God’s command, still causing
you to sin, it is a lust of the flesh.
Remember Jesus’ parable of the sower, we will eventually reap what we
sow and Matthew 16: Then said
Jesus unto his disciples, If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
(KJV)
Pride of Life - A strong Christian should find fulfillment in
pleasing God. Whether a stay at home mom or a career driven supper mom who still
puts God & her family first, Don’t
allow what others define you as, be who you are. Each person has some quality that could be
desiring to another. Let those things
that “stand out” about you be the type of thing that will make others be a
stronger more faithful person/Christian.
Don’t “desire the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:43)
The
opposite of Pride is humility! The
highest form of fulfillment comes from unselfishly giving yourself away. (See
Phil 2:3-4) Prides focuses our attention
on ourselves while humility focuses our attention on others. The person who is busy doing God’s will, God’s
work, has no time to focus on themselves because all of their time &
attention is devoted to service God through serving others.
Conclusion: As Christian
women, we have been “set apart”, we are called and are chosen. Others may try to influence us to become what
they believe in but as Christian Women, we must strive on a daily basis to
influence others to become what we believe in…., which is what God has called
us to do.
