By Victoria Essien, NLBI Women of Worth Worldwide Trainer in Nigeria
What is worldliness?
Worldliness is conforming to the world’s standard. Worldliness is anything that is opposed to being transformed. Worldliness is anything that is not Christ-like or that hinders “Christlikeness”. It is a nail that sin drives into the heart of Christians, separating them from God’s will for them, making their actions incompatible with their spiritual potential because it promotes selfish interest over loving God.
All worldliness is the opposite of spirituality. It is an obsession with temporal, material things, to the exclusion of spiritual growth and to the neglect of spiritual interest. It is a force that sidetracks the Christian from his or her greatest privilege — that of constant personal Christian growth and fruitful service.
Christians are strongly warned about the dangers of worldliness by the apostle John.
“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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever” (1 John 2:15–17 New American Standard Bible).”
No Christian should consider these dangers of worldliness to be trivial matters.
Worldliness Excludes the Love of the Father
John warned that if we love the world, we have no relationship with God. It is impossible to love the world and God at the same time. Love for the world pushes out love for God, and love for God pushes out love for the world. Love for the world cannot coexist with love for God.
The absolute thrust of this statement by John is striking and compels careful and serious reflection. The stakes are high. Because the Father’s kingdom is at war with the kingdom of this world, the two will never coexist peacefully. When love for the world increases, love for God dwindles. No human heart can hold these two opposing loves together. Remember Jesus’ statement in Matthew 6: 24,“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (NASB).”
Worldliness Embraces the Temporal at the Expense of the Eternal
In 1 John 2:17, John also warned that the world and its lusts are heading towards everlasting destruction, while the obedient Christian is going to live eternally. The world and the genuine Christian do not share the same destiny. Anyone whose heart is set on the perishing world will inherit heartache and misery at the end.
No reasonable person would store treasure where it could be destroyed by rust or insects or place the things they treasure in a location where thieves are likely to steal them, would they? (See Matthew 6:19-21). The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:31 teaches that the world, with all its fashion and lust, is heading towards eternal peril. This is also affirmed by the apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:7,10.
So, if we love the glories and the pageantry of this world, we will pass away together with them. We will not only lose our treasure, but also our soul.
Christians, be cautioned: worldliness distracts us from taking delight in things that abide forever, even doing God’s will. Do not even flirt with the world; it will seduce you to destruction. Rather, follow the will of God in Christ Jesus and you will have eternal life.
It Weakens the Power of Evangelism
If our interest is on material acquisition, we likely will not see the need to go out to fish for lost souls. How many of us have ever participated or are willing to be involved in evangelism?
It Can Negatively Affect Our Christian Priorities
It can affect our speech, behaviors and other habits, including the way we dress. Worldliness in these areas influences others negatively. (Eph. 4:29, 1 Cor. 6: 18. I Tim 2:9).
Once the world takes over the heart of a Christian, he or she will soon lose the enjoyment of the Father’s love and the desire to do the Father’s will. The Bible can be viewed as boring, and prayer can become a difficult chore. Even Christian fellowship may seem empty and disappointing. It is not that there is something wrong with those Christian activities, but rather, the Christian’s heart has become worldly. If we follow the ways of the world, we may begrudge and murmur the time, money and effort needed in the service of God’s kingdom.
Freedom from Worldliness
There are many Scripture-based actions we can take to focus our lives on God and not the world. Here are a few of them.
- Be on your guard against the temptation of worldliness – 1 Peter 5:8; Mark 14:38
- Maintain your regular quiet time, using that time for prayer and meditation – Mark 1:35
- Weigh every option before you with God’s unchanging word – Psalm 119:11
- Make the best use of available spiritual resources – Hebrews 10:25
- Maintain clean hands and a pure heart – Psalm 24:3,4
- Maintain a life of holiness everywhere – 1 Peter 1:14-16
- Practice remembering the constant, abiding presence of God – Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Hebrews 4:13
- Be conscious of heaven all the time – John 14:1-3
- Be watchful and spiritually alert – Luke 21:36
- Be prayerful – Luke 21:36
- Do not keep close company with unbelievers because they will lure you away from faith – II Corinthians 6:14-16
- Engage in the fellowship of the saints – Hebrews 10:25
- Set both mind and heart on the things of heaven, rather than on earthly things – Colossians 3:1-2
- Remember two warnings from Jesus’ – a man’s life does not consist of the things he owns (Luke 12:15) and there is no profit in gaining the entire world but losing our soul (Matthew 16:26).
What’s the Next Step?
Consider sitting quietly before the Lord, confessing and repenting of any worldliness that you may be struggling with.
Confessing these things to a fellow Christian* whom you trust and praying together leads to healing (James 5:16).
You may want to write a Scripture and put it by your bedside to help you remember God’s love for you and His desire for you to be free from the things of this world so you can focus on following Him.
*We suggest that you have these types of discussions with a Christian who is the same gender as you – men confessing to men and women confessing to women.
Women of Worth Worldwide 
THANK YOU WOWW FOR THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE THE LORD.
LikeLike