1 John 2:16
“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.”
When a crime has been committed and there were witnesses to the crime, the police question the witnesses to get clues to help find the criminals. One of the questions the police will ask is if there were any identifying marks that will help to identify the criminal. Those identifying marks helps the public to narrow down who the criminal may be so they can alert the police as to their whereabouts.
There has been a crime committed since the beginning of the world, and the crime is sin. 1 John 3:4 says, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” When a person sins, they are literally breaking the laws of God. As the Scriptures are questioned as to the identifying marks of sin, worldliness seems to be the culprit of sin. As the questioning continues, the Scriptures identify three marks of worldliness.
The first identifying mark of worldliness is the lust of the flesh. These sins of the flesh are truly one of the marks that identify worldliness. This type of sin is nothing more than living an immoral life. It is a life where someone feels they are missing out on something. Friend, you are not missing out on anything. The only thing you are missing out on from living an immoral life are diseases, broken marriages, broken homes and regrets for years to come of what could have been. Don’t let this identifying mark become a part of your life. The lust of the flesh will mark your character for years to come and will be difficult to overcome.
The second identifying mark of worldliness is the lust of the eyes. This type of sin is simply living a life of covetousness. It is a life where someone is always looking at what they don’t have. They’re dissatisfied that they don’t have a nicer car, home, clothing or the newest technology. The lust of the flesh will mark your mindset and will keep you dissatisfied. If you allow this identifying mark to control your mind, you will never truly see how much you already have. The only thing this mindset does is it makes you focus on what you don’t have, and leads to a life of dissatisfaction and complaining.
The third identifying mark of worldliness is the pride of life. This is a sin of status. The person who allows this sin in their life will always feel that they should have the higher position. This sin will lead a person to constantly undercut authority. This sin causes a person to continually question what authority does and why they are never good enough. Friend, be careful that you don’t allow this to become a part of your life. You will be marked as a troublemaker if you let this identifying mark in your life.
The key to controlling these areas is simply to keep your eyes on Christ. Christ will satisfy you in every area of life. Worldliness has destroyed many good people who didn’t squelch these identifying marks when they first crept into their lives. You should daily pray and ask God to reveal these things to you when they start marking your life. If you keep your love for God right, then these things will never mark your life.
Allen Domelle is the editor of the Old Paths Journal which is more than just a Christian’s publication. It is an excellent place to learn how today’s headlines will forge tomorrow’s laws and statutes. Keep yourself in tune with what is happening around the world, as well as in your own backyard with our daily updates and devotionals.