Audits & Resolutions - Day 27

Write From My Heart / December 27, 2020 / Audits & Resolutions – Day 27

Question: Am I living my own script for life or someone else’s?

Romans 12:2 (NIV) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of you mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

            There are several definitions for the word conform but I think the most applicable definition in this usage has to do with acting in a way that agrees with the prevailing standards and customs of the current times. The prevailing customs of our day seem to point one in the direction of non-conformity in that each person should decide for himself/herself what is “right” in their own sight—including apparel, lifestyles, pronouns, dietary preferences, and anything else. How ironic that this whole way of life is in itself a standard by which we are judged by the world if we fail to conform to the world’s view of non-conformity. Do I have you sufficiently confused? There is a better explanation. We are simply to remain true to who we are in Christ and resist the urge to follow the whims and trends of the world. They will eventually cease to exist; what is grounded in the foundation of Christ will remain.

            The text from 1John is one favored by those who would seek to discredit the Bible as being contradictory. [e.g., Christians tell me to love everyone, but the Bible says not to love the world or anything in it! How do you explain that contradiction?] The perceived contradiction is not a contradiction at all. Indeed, “God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16). As a Christian, you are called  “Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… and, Love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:37,38). The issue is not found in the word love so much as it is found in the word world. God loved the world he created and found it good. God loved the people he created and found them good. Sin forever altered the goodness of that creation, but God will one day restore the goodness with the creation of a new heavens and a new earth. (2 Peter 3:13). We do not love, nor should we desire and chase after the imperfect, flawed, sinful world. Our hearts should be set on God alone. The world and it’s current trends should not determine the flow of our life—we belong to Christ.

Resolution: Be less influenced by the world’s perspective.

Gracious Heavenly Father,

            Thank you for loving us beyond what we could ever hope or imagine. Forgive our tendency to chase after the current trends and fades of the world. Guide us to seek you first in all that we do or say and to set our lives on the foundation of your Son.

            In the name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, Amen.