Why Does Loving the World Draw You Away from Christ?

Written by Kayla W.

Satan uses the world to distract us from God.  He does not want us to have victory in Christ.  He would much rather that we be addicted to all the entertainment, wrong music, hanging out with ungodly friends, etc., than spending time to develop Christ-like character.  This world is grabbing the hearts of our young people today, including Christians.  When we love the things of the world, our affections go toward those things.  Galatians 5:16 states, “This I say then, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”  I have a strong desire to encourage girls to love God and not the world.  I want to strive to be a godly woman, to be pure, have a serving spirit, delight in Him, and know He is all I need.  Our prayer should be Psalm 71:2, “Deliver me in Thy righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Thine ear unto me and save me.”  We have to be very aware and careful that what we are involved in is pleasing to the Lord and not fulfilling to our flesh.  This verse says it all, Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

When we understand the importance of not being “of the world,” we are faced with having to stand alone.  John 15:19 says, “If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”  I meet girls who desire not to be caught up in our world.  On the other hand, we are losing so many young people to this world.  There are very few who are not consumed with this world.  In my life, there was a time when I had no friends that were walking the same path with me.  I desired a godly friend, a friend that did not want to be caught up in the things of the world.  Looking back I believe it was the best thing that happened.  I did not have my affections towards peers.  I was developing convictions from God’s Word and not from what friends did.  It taught me to stand alone.  Even though at the time I felt like I was in the desert, looking back it was a blessing.  I used those years to minister to younger girls and I loved helping moms.  I now have very close relationships with moms and I have learned a lot from them.  I had very few competing affections.  I was serious about growing in the Lord.  “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:17).  Those were great years to minister.  I did not want to look like the average teenager.  The contact I had with other people allowed me to minister and experience standing alone.  I had no older girls to be my example, so my heart and goal was and is to encourage younger girls.   We don’t have to love the world to fit in, but we can be the bright light and an example to others.  “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2).

There are two reasons why I share this.  One is to encourage you not to follow the world and your flesh.  The second is that if you are lonely and ready to give up fighting against the world, don’t, as there are many blessings that come from standing against the world.  Also, if you have no one who shares the same vision, be grateful that you have no competing affections.  Look for ways to minister to others.  May I remind you we are not here to be filled with pleasure, but to do the work of God.  Colossians 4:5 states, “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.”  Let’s redeem the time and not fall into the world’s ways and thank God for this sweet time of drawing closer to Him.

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This page was last modified on Thursday, September 02, 2010