Who Do You Love?

      Paul wrote of difficult times in II Timothy 3:1-9. Interestingly, he mentions four different loves. There are lovers of self, lovers of money and lovers of pleasure. These are all contrasted with lovers of God.

      Which one are we?

      Our age is one of selfishness. It is all about getting what we want right now. Look at the rising debt our nation continues to have across the board even with Dave Ramsey doing all that work.

      James demonstrated that Christians can be lovers of self even while they think they are being spiritually minded. In James 4:3 he talked to people who prayed. But their prayers were doing them no good because they were selfish.

      In Philippians 2:3-4, Paul provides the rule against selfishness. If we are going to be lovers of God, we must put others before ourselves. That means putting our spouses before ourselves, our kids, our parents, our friends, our neighbors, our employers, our employees and even our enemies.

      Hand in hand with selfishness is the love of money. We are a money centered society. Power and fame depend on wealth. Just the other day while in a hospital waiting room I saw a magazine entitled Billionaire that is all about the rich people, how they got that way and how we can too.

      If you don’t think our society loves money, look at the number of lottery tickets sold everywhere. And if you don’t think Christians are impacted by this misplaced love, look at the number of Christians who have started defending buying those emblems of covetousness.

      When we love God, we will be content with whatever we have (I Timothy 6:8-10). Further we need to be generous with the blessings God has given us, sharing and storing up our treasures in heaven (I Timothy 6:17-18).     

      Finally, is there any doubt we are pleasure driven people? Everything we do seems to be governed by how fun and enjoyable it is. Drinking, drugs, immoral sex and any number of sins come down to people pleasure hunting. But sadly, even those who do not fall prey to these “major” sins are often driven by pleasure. Isn’t procrastination merely a means of seeking pleasure, putting off the hard while we spend our time on the fun?

      Then consider the number of Christians who think the only way to attract folks to Jesus is if it is fun. Entertainment centered “worship” is the rule of the day as folks try to draw in the crowds by pleasing their flesh.

      If we are lovers of God, we will mortify the flesh and its lusts, following after the Spirit and His fruit (Romans 8:13).

      Who do you love?

Edwin L. Crozier