Lovers Of

6.27.2010

2 Timothy 3:1-4 3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… ESV

Sure sounds like today – perhaps we are in the last days. We are what we love; we are where our affections are found and everyone has affections of one kind or another. The roots of our culture grow deep into our souls and we love what we know and what we’re used to and what feeds the self – mostly.

Today is the day to change affections or at least admit what it is I really love. Today is the day for me, by the Holy Spirit, to admit before God what I love about my culture and to assess how deeply the roots of that love have grown into my being. And today in the light of this passage, it is time to intentionally start weeding; then pleading for the Spirit’s power to overcome these loves.

Reader, have you ever inventoried your deepest affections and questioned those things you possibly take for granted? As you read this passage in 2 Timothy are there strains of this brutal selfishness present in your own life that need dealt with before God?

We are called in God to be brutally honest about our passions and desires and to bring our lives into perfect alignment with His heart, purpose, and mission in our world. I pray that we begin to do so.

Father in Heaven,

Please rid me of the self-focused, inward, self-seeking nature of those listed above. May I find strength and courage in the Holy Spirit to divorce the deeply held loves that I have because I’ve long ignored You in these areas over the years. I pray for my friends that You help them as well and that all of us become true lovers of God – in Christ’s Name, amen.