Life with a five year old daughter is dramatically unstable at times. The emotional gauntlet is laid through the simple path of Disney princesses and nail polish. I fear the inevitable escalation toward the teenage years.
However, I still take some pride in handling the periodic kindergarten crisis with a form of reverse psychology. The phrase de résistance: “Whatever you do, don’t smile!” It’s a few notches above “Turn that frown upside down” on the parenting life hack scale. No matter the tantrum, I love to see the corner of her mouth start to slightly creep back towards a smile and the dimple betrays her tears.
It seems as if the words no, stop, or don’t are triggers for a rebellious spirit in all of us. Stop signs are just suggestions. Rules are meant to be broken. No means yes. These are the James Dean vices inside all of us. It’s our nature. The only thing that can curb that nature is a new one.
In Christ, we find that our old nature has been rendered powerless, and we have been made new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The rebellious spirit is replaced by love, joy, and peace for good . . . or maybe just on Sundays. Even with such a glorious life change that comes in Christ, it can still be hard to resist a look back though it may come with a salty price.
John felt the need to command his readers against such a division of love. In 1 John 2:15-17 he says, “Do not love the world or 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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” Why would such an exhortation be necessary if his readers were not prone to commit time, energy, and resources to something that would take from them? Because we all struggle with feeding the mouth that bites us from time to time.
Understand that John in not advocating separatist disdain and compound building initiative type hatred for the earth and its inhabitants, but rather for the condemning the rebellious nature, desires, and principles that are opposed to the very holy, pure, and loving design of God. He refers to them as the desires of the flesh, eyes, and the pride of life. They are the “California Roll” to the big red octagons for those trying to build a daily relationship with Christ. How do we not give in to those desires when they are just so shiny?
Put off also means put on.
Once one aspect of our life is subtracted, something must take its place and fill the time, energy, and thought void. While the force of 1 John 2:15-17 is on not loving the world, John puts the alternative in there as well. Refrain from love of the world by building the love for the Father. The Christian life is not about rules and regulations that dictate a robotic lifestyle, but is rather a daily walk and relationship with a God with infinite power and holiness that can be known and loved personally. God did not choose to love us based on what we can do, but that we would love Him back. So we put off the desires that separate us from the Father, and we put on a daily commitment, energy, and investment in a relationship with the Father. Something that will give back blessings, not steal from us.
Think big picture.
The thrust of 1 John 2:17 is time. Waste not want not. Desires of the flesh, eyes, and the pride of life steal time. They steal it because they waste time and see no eternal worth. Those things will pass away and leave no gold at the end of their rainbow. Alcohol will only help escape for a short period, but then reality will always snake back and with hanging side effects depending on the level of consumption. Pornography delights for an instant while hearts are torn for weeks if not years. Time can be stolen, but never returned. We must see the big picture and realize that time is worth something. Jesus looks to give life, not steal it as He says in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” What Jesus has to give lasts for eternity.
Now I know that the correct phrase is, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” but if you will pardon my play on words, I feel that we as Christians suffer lackluster relationships with Christ because we are too busy feeding the mouth that will bite us. We love the things of the world and let them consumeristically drive our relationship with the Father where we boil our worship and service to Him down to our preferences instead of His pleasure and will. We become the dictators of pseudo Christian ideology through our flesh, eyes, and pride instead of a divinely inspired authority gripping our hearts and spurring loving obedience.
Let us not love or commit to that which will bite us back in the long run, but to that which gives above all we ask or think. Let us not love the world, but love the loving Father.