For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us to deny ungodliness
and worldly desires and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and
the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:11-13
What's with the trend of believers chasing stuff? Worldly desires....Another version says, "worldly passions".
People who are void of the Holy Spirit are always seeking to fill that void with stuff. (I blogged about that last week, search for "Stuff" in the search bar on this page to see if this is you.)
Let's define 'worldly desires/passions' a little further...
- worldly: (greek: kosmikos) - meaning: having the character of this present corrupt age
- desire: (greek: epithymia) - meaning: craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust
Refer back to the verse...Here Paul is instructing 'the church' - the body of believers to "Deny ungodliness". Now it is our goal, those who follow Christ that we be godly, that our light shines before men in such a way that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
- ungodliness - (greek: asebeia) - meaning: lusts or desires after evil things.
What is it that you are pursuing that is worldly, forbidden, evil? For some it's downright obvious, black & white stuff like: drugs, pornography, extramarital relationships. But some miss the mark by the mere lack of self-control and discontentment.
It is apparent that our nation's economy is in a crisis because of all the wants! All the overspending on stuff. Remember in 2007 when prices of homes went off the charts...and where are your neighbors who 'refinanced' to buy cars, trucks, boats, RVs, fancy vacations???? They've been foreclosed on and had to move on.
Check this verse out:
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil,
and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10
How many brothers & sisters in the Lord DID you have that are now missing because of their pursuits of money. God really used this verse in my life long ago while I was in the real estate industry. See, there is where you will find many people working 12 hours a day...for what? So they can have the fancy suits, fancy cars, fancy homes...all at the price of NOT seeing their families.
A thought occurred to me yesterday:
What's up with people going to church JUST
to network for business/money-making reasons????
I do my best to NOT promote my business at church. (Which is a good thing...read on.)
Remember when Jesus came through the temple, tossing over tables - "driving out those who were buying and selling in the temple"....what did He say:
"Is it not written MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBER'S DEN".
How do I receive that? Don't sell your Shakeology at church! If they want it, let them seek you out...but DON'T CORNER PEOPLE AT CHURCH TO BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU. (period)
What other evil comes from money? Jealousy. Resenting those who have more and so you go on pursuing more. How about fraud? Like real estate tycoons jacking up prices of homes and having family buy them to make more money and more money. Think about it...we all know believers who have gotten caught in the trap, don't we?
I don't think people start out with intentions to forfeit their values, their family, and God's Word in the beginning. But a little bit of nice stuff, leads to the want and need for more, then more...and soon, people break the rules to get more...and then what? They end up losing it all!
This is just one of the many reasons why the Lord instructs us not to chase 'worldy desires/passions'. We end up chasing money...and we end up losing more than we bargained for. This is why Titus 2:12 calls us to live sensibly.
What is that? Sensibly is living with a sound mind, soberly, temperately, discreetly. Opposite of discreetly: flashy, show-off right?
It's my heart's desires that the body of Christ grow in maturity and shine in front of their unsaved friends and family through their contentment, generosity, and sensibility.
But godliness actually is a
means of great gain
when accompanied by contentment.
1 Timothy 6:6
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