Choosing a Life That Honors God

Choosing a Life That Honors God invites you to loosen your grip on worldly distractions so you can love Him fully and walk in His freedom.

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

According to tradition, John wrote this letter from the island of Patmos where he’d been exiled. This isolated environment gave him an ideal vantage point to ponder the pressures, patterns, lifestyles, and standards that shaped lives.

John saw how easily people could be influenced by the words and actions of others. It’s easy to focus our affection on possessions and pleasures, loving the world and its “things.” This misguided love corrupts and distracts us, keeping us from experiencing His blessings.

We all face the constant pressure to conform to the world, to be consumed by its pleasures and riches, and to pattern our lives after passing fads.

As John realized, we all need to seek God more diligently and spend more time with Him. As we spend time alone with Him, He can show us if our priorities are right, if we’re being deceived by the devil and demonic forces, or if we’re allowing the world to distract us or dominate our thoughts, feelings, and expectations.

We need God to show us how to receive all His blessings, live in victory, experience His wisdom, and be freed from deception and distractions.

Ask God to help you fill your life with the things that please Him. Seek to be purified from sin and prepared for His blessings. Think about how much He loves you. Allow yourself to be filled with His love, and be ready to share that love with others.

Reflection Question: What helps you turn your heart from the world toward God?