2 Timothy 3:2-5, For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. The will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! We can see the three types of love that will be overtaking the world at the end times. There will be a “Self Love”, “Love of Money/Possessions” and “Love of Pleasure,” spirits engulfing this world. These types of love are corrupting our world and the devil is using it to break our relationship with Christ.
We can see a new type of religion already brewing in many churches, this “Self Love” culture. It has all become about “I” and about my “Truth.” They become unloving and unforgiving towards those who do not agree with their truths. This selfishness is the same type of love that engulfed Satan to revolt against God. Isaiah 14:13-14, For you said to yourself, “I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High. This self-love caused Satan to be thrown out of paradise forever, took 1/3 of other angels with him and their end will be in the lake of fire at the day of judgement. The devil wanted to be like God, but even greater than God himself. This self-love, Satan used to convince Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. He attempts to convince Eve that she can be like God. Genesis 3:5, “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil. This is what the world is like today, wanting to be their own God. Following their own commandments about life and sin without consequences. They believe they are higher than God’s judgement and rules. Self-love is defiant to God and his commandments. So many churches do not preach about repentance and sin, rather they accept sin to fit this world. Their judgement will come from God. We can’t be lovers of ourselves, or only think about “I”, because God’s purpose for us is to serve. Galatians 5:13, For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature (Previous Post Nature). Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
The next type of love we see is the love of money or covetousness, which is lovers of wealth and possession. Now more than ever, society is trying to find a quick way to make money rather than hard work through education. America in 2018 was ranked 27thin healthcare and education and I am sure even lower when the next ranking comes out. The self-proclaimed title of “influencer,” is not a real job! To be an influencer, money and fame is your idol and not God. They spend every second of their day trying to make sure they get enough views and likes to keep their money flow going. Their world is not real and as it says in Mark 8:36-37, And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul. Is anything worth more than your soul? The devil wants you to be distracted so he can steal your soul away from God. The soul is priceless and there is nothing in this world that can compete with it. That is the devil’s main goal, to steal as many souls from God before the final judgement. When we worry more about our possessions than our relationship with God, we are going down a dangerous path. I Timothy 6:10, For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierces themselves with many sorrows. Colossians 3:5, So put to death sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the things of this world. If we treasure possessions and money more than a relationship with God, we are choosing the world over God. The end will be the loss of our priceless souls.
Jesus Christ before starting his ministry was offered all the kingdoms of the world by Satan. Matthew 4:8-10, Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “If you will kneel down and worship me.” “Get out of here, Satan, “Jesus told him. For the Scriptures say, You must worship the Lord your god and serve only him.” Everything was offered to Jesus, yet he turned it down because he knows this is just a temporary life. Matthew 6:21, Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. If our desires are of this world, we will never be satisfied. Envy, jealousy and pride will only grow inside. Have we not learned and seen the most richest/famous people in this world, still do not achieve true happiness. They hide their depression, mental illness and sometimes leads to suicide. No one has ever mentioned that those famous people had a true relationship with God. True happiness will never come from anything this world can offer you and will only be short lived. God is offering a paradise for eternity and don’t lose it because you desire possessions and wealth more than a loving relationship with your Heavenly Father.
Lovers of pleasure or their own desires, which is our natural sinful nature. I John 2:15-17, Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. If you focus only on the pleasures and desires of this world, you will never be satisfied. You will never be satisfied if you only crave your desires. It will be a bottomless pit of regret and condemnation. James 1:4, Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 2 Timothy 2:22, Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. Sexual impurity, adultery is on the rise, fornication is promoted rather than marriage and people are living together and having children before getting married. The world has become about enjoying pleasure now and dealing with the consequences later. Our natural desires and our heart will always pull us towards sin. It is only because of the Holy Spirit are we able to lift up the curtain the devil has over our eyes and to understand the truth. Galatians 5:16-26, So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. Popular society is trying to influence the world into accepting sin and the belief that if you ask God for forgiveness every time, you can continue sinning. They do not teach what true repentance means. Their actions continually go against the word of God and they seek their own pleasure to be satisfied. The sad part is that true joy and happiness comes only from God and nothing can satisfy like our relationship with Christ. Our desires should be to obey, read, learn, pray, fast and build our relationship with God. Matthew 6:33, See the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need. We must not become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
So what is true love? True Love is measured by OBEYING HIS COMMANDMENTS! You can’t say you love God and not obey his commandments. Jesus is speaking to his disciples, John 14:15, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” The most important commandment is mentioned in Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” As believers there are really only two types of people in this world to us, those who believe in Christ and those who do not. Do not let those who don’t believe in Christ twist love to make sin acceptable and cause you to stray. God’s commandments can never be changed or altered to fit sin. We can’t know God’s commandments if we do not know his words. It so important to read, study and ask the Holy Spirit to show you the truth. He was sent for that very purpose to be our Comforter and Guide till Christ’s return. We as servants of Christ are expected as it says in 2 Timothy 2:24-26, A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. Love for God is crucial above all wants and desires of this world.
I John 4:7-21, Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love-not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us and his love brought to full expression in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them and they live in God. We know how much God loves us and we have put our trust in his love. God is love and who live in love live in God and God lives in them. As we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgement, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is fear of punishment and this shows that we have not fully experiences his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. If some says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.
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