The world is your enemy
Updated: Mar 29, 2023
19th – 21th January 2022
Every Christian on earth knows that the devil is his/her enemy. A considerable number of Christians know and/or are getting to understand that their flesh is their enemy. But few are the Christians who remember that the world is also their enemy.
Many of us take the world as a waiting place in which we have to live to the fullest and make it until Jesus comes back to pick us but that’s a lie. Just to clarify: earth is the location but the world is a system.
Most of the time, we tend to follow the trends of the world thinking that that’s the way we ought to live as long we’re on earth, that there’s no other way but the Bible is clear about that:
“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honourable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
I Peter 2:11-12 NKJV
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:2 NKJV
See, the world is a particular enemy because we can’t neutralise it. The Bible says that if we submit to God and resist the devil, he shall flee (James 4:7). It says again that if we walk by the Spirit, we will not accomplish the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). But when it comes to the world, It starts telling us to “abstain”, to “not conform”… In other words, the only way out is “to die to it” and live as if we were from another galaxy and of a different nature/species.
“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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
I John 2:15-17 NKJV
As mentioned in the passage above, the world is made of 3 principal things: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. The different life situations and circumstances we face tend to always be accompanied by at least one of those three patterns.
The truth is the world will never change; in fact, it will become worse and worse with time. The world is passing away; it will perish with all that is in it and all that belongs to it and, in its downfall, it will try to drag you down with it.
In happy or bad times, the world is always ready to entice us to poison our souls and steal our joy in The Lord. The life cycle itself shows us how much the world is set up to drain us.
From a very young age, children start being concerned with worldly things. The bully some go through, racism, orphanage, rape, comparison and so on. As they grow up, they start facing difficulties like stress in school, failure, fear, discouragement, and separation. In their teenage years, some are introduced to endless diets and insecurities, more bullying, sexual disorders, anxiety, loneliness, depression, rejection and so on. And the worst, adulthood, where life becomes a burden and death a threat…
The world will try to distract you through lust. It will make you chase things that do not matter. It will generate in your feelings like jealousy and envy and make you focus on the wrong things and go through the wrong path.
It will pressure you and make you feel like you’re left behind. It will keep you busy, sow worries and anxiety in your heart, make you forget about eternity and make you think that your life will end here on earth; it will take all your attention and time. It will waste all your energy and make you chase money and lean on idols.
The world will discourage you, suck up your faith, drain you and tire you up. Situations will arise like mountains before you to take away all your hope. The world will deceive you. It will get you stuck in a maze with no way out, make you feel like you’re left alone and make you want to flee and give up on life.
All this shows us that the world is without mercy, for the poor as well as for the rich, for the good as well as for the evil; no-one-is-safe. It fights against everyone at his/her own level with no mercy.
Here are some key points that will help us highlight the dangers of the world and be more aware of its enmity towards us:
💠The world is the remote of the devil for entertaining our flesh and weakening our spirits.
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.”
Luke 21:34 NKJV
💠The world is the bridge between the devil and our hearts. Once we give him access, he torments us so we don’t advance in life or bear fruits.
“Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”
Matthew 13:22 NKJV
💠The world separates us from The Lord. It’s only by faith that we can connect with our Creator.
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”
2 Corinthians 5:1-3, 6-9 NIV
💠The world has a spirit, and that spirit is ignorant of and against any Godly knowledge.
“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.”
I Corinthians 2:9-14 NKJV
💠The spirit of the world is enmity to God.
“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
Romans 8:7-9 NKJV
There is no human being with no challenges here on earth. Everyone is in a battle, the way we face them is what differentiates us.
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”
Ephesians 6:16 ESV
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
I John 5:4-5 NKJV
Our victory against the world is our faith.
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Colossians 3:1-3 NIV
Short note 🔖: If you want to have faith, you have to change your speech. Faith comes from what we hear, and what we hear from the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Your mouth is the closest mouth to your ears, it follows you everywhere you go. Train it to speak wisdom and life. Adopt a speech of faith and abandon the patterns of the world.
“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Hebrews 2:1 NIV
God bless 🌻🔖
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