For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. — 1 John 2:16
No one has to go far to be struck with the wickedness of this world. In days past, people would try to hide their wickedness. Now, they advertise it openly. They want you to see how evil they can be. More than that, they want to pull you in.
This world wants each of us consumed with the things of this world. They want us to be like them, and if not like them, they want us to accept them and believe that they are normal. But that’s not what the Bible tells us at all. In fact, the instruction of the Bible is quite the opposite.
While John was certainly writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit here, he could have very well written our day and time into this verse. The description he gives is exactly where we are in our world today. Everyone wants the things others have, they want to look like others, act like others, and be like others. They want to be prideful in the things they have and brag about it.
Just go to social media. An influencer somewhere is bragging about their latest meal, their latest activity, or simply wanting you to be envious of them. But those things are not of God, they are of the world. God doesn’t want us to be like the world. Instead, He wants us to be Godly in a world that is not.
So often we spend our time trying to be worldly instead of trying to be Godly. We want to have the things others have or be the things others are. God desires us to live for Him, seeking Godliness, in a world that is full of wickedness.
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