05/17/2026
For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
1 John 2:16
For three years, John lived and walked with Jesus. He witnessed firsthand how the Messiah was not of this world, but came into it to save sinners who couldn’t save themselves.
As long as we belong to this world, we are dead in our sins. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are given a whole new life. One that makes us citizens of heaven. We’re no longer at home here on earth. That makes us enemies of this world and a target for the evil one.
Jesus wants to set us free from our old nature. For this very reason, He took on the weakness of humanity, died for our sins, and raised us back to life with Himself. We are free to follow our Savior, to walk in His light and experience the joy that is found in living for Him alone.
Although we are accepted sons and daughters of God, we still live in a world full of temptations and evil. We aren’t immune to any of them, because our old nature still resides inside each of us. That is our greatest weakness, especially since Satan will do whatever he can to make us a slave to our own sinful desires.
He is the small voice inside us that whispers we can make it on our own, that we need material wealth to be happy, that physical pleasures are worth selling our souls for. If we aren’t on our guard, we’ll start believing these lies over the truth that Jesus has proclaimed over our lives.
The only way for us to live Christlike lives is by making God’s voice loudest of all. The Holy Spirit needs to be the One who is our constant guide, our moral compass, our strength and defense against anything that isn’t according to God’s will. His values and virtues need to be imprinted on our hearts, so we carry them with us wherever we go. Against God’s light, any lie Satan tries to sell us will be clearly exposed. The strongest forces of evil are powerless against His truth. When we put all our trust in Jesus, follow in His footsteps and seek His wisdom with every decision we make, He’ll help us not to give in to anything that is harmful to our minds, bodies and souls.
