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The following behaviors are things that prove we don’t actually love God!!! (1 John 2:15–17)
Behavior # 1: Sinful cravings and materialism.
Secular thinking evaluates things and makes decisions that satisfy the thinker’s sinful cravings.
Things that promise more material goods, even at the cost of things that are lasting.
This is a worship of self and of things. It is the custom of this world to focus on ourselves and to crave things, things that impoverish the human soul.
Behavior # 2: Physical lust and pleasure.
The lust for physical pleasure is a distinctive behavior of this world.
It’s the worldview that evaluates relationships based on how much selfish pleasure they can give. It leads to devalued human beings and results in failure, fatigue and frustration.
When you combine sinful cravings with physical lust you end up with a worldview that is tragically broken:
Loving things and using people, instead of the biblical worldview, Loving people and using things!
Behavior # 3: Boasting of what we have and have done.
The world’s way is to brag about what we have, one of the main reasons people acquire so much stuff—for the bragging rights.
Others live to brag about what they have done, where they have gone or whom they know.
Both kinds of bragging fulfill the self–centered secular worldview that feeds personal pride at the expense of positive relationships.
Let God transform you.
In contrast to being shaped by the ungodly world, we can be transformed by thinking like Jesus.
Jesus’s foundation—the Word of God.
The foundation of Jesus’ worldview is God’s Word. There’s no shortcut for making the Bible our foundation.
Osmosis doesn’t work (like sleeping with the Bible under your pillow). It doesn’t help to put the world’s biggest Bible on the coffee table. It might not even help to play a recording of the Scriptures while you sleep—though my high school Spanish teacher swore by playing language recordings while you slept!
It might not even help to play a recording of the Scriptures while you sleep—though my high school Spanish teacher swore by playing language recordings while you slept!
Nothing substitutes for good, solid biblical knowledge and wisdom, learned the old–fashioned way.
Jesus’ focus—knowing and doing God’s will.
At the core of worldview problems is the fact that fallen human beings want our own will, not God’s—just ask Adam and Eve!
In order for us to change from thinking like the world to thinking like Jesus, we have to take a step of faith and embrace God’s will and ways, instead of our own.
Jesus’ filter—godly wisdom.
Whenever Jesus thought about decisions He had to make, He applied godly wisdom to the problem.
He refused to act in any way that didn’t pass the ‘godly wisdom’ test:
If Jesus couldn’t envision God approving of a particular decision, He wouldn’t do it.
“Would God approve of this thought, word or action? Would I think, say, do this if God was standing beside me?”
Thinking like Jesus means we too will learn to apply godly wisdom.
Jesus’ faith—acting on His godly beliefs.
Once Jesus knew that His thoughts were in line with God’s thoughts, He was free to speak and act according to His beliefs, founded on Scripture, focused on God’s will and filtered through godly wisdom.
If you and I can live this way, how exciting, successful and satisfying our lives will be; in fact, we could never manufacture a life half as wonderful by using secular thinking.
Next time: Change the way you think . . . ‘Think like Jesus!”
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