Ep 194 – 1 John 2:12-17 PT 5

This episode is entitled, “Self-indulgence” and is our fifth on 1 John chapter 2, verses 12-17. We are still looking at verse 16 and the second phrase John uses to describe our love of the world. The New Living Translation calls it “a craving for everything we see.” It’s an insatiable desire for all the goodies the world offers us, from fame and recognition to the latest technological devices and trendy fashions. We see it and we have to have it. And while most of the things we crave are not evil or declared off-limits by God, they still pose a danger for us. It is far too easy for us to see these things as the source of our satisfaction and sense of self-worth. They become another means by which we practice self-love. We convince ourselves that we deserve them. We rationalize that they will make us happy. And in doing so, we turn them into little gods that we fully expect to meet our needs. But they almost always prove to be impotent and incapable of delivering what they promise. They can’t return our love.