Overcome the World

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. - I John 5:3-5

Why do we equate being good with loving God? It has nothing to do with it.

I am in Birmingham, AL with all of the Desperation Team right now getting ready for the final Desperation Conference of the summer. This morning we had an amazing time of prayer and scripture reading. We read through I, II, and III John together. It was great to just soak in the Word.

As we were reading, I was reminded of a conversation that I had recently with one of our Furnace guys. He was telling me of an interaction that he had at work with a young lady at his work. She had expressed her understanding that she had done too many bad things to ever be accepted by God. How sad if we, as Christians, have every put out a message like this.

This opened the door for him to share all of his past struggles. Cocaine, alcohol addiction, sex . . . these are a few of the issues that he had dealt with in his past. Now his life is so full of passion for Jesus that no one can envision him any other way.
He got to share with her that being a Christian is not about being good; we are horrible at being good. Being a Christian is about Jesus. When we find out the greatness of our Savior and his willingness to forgive and love us through our mess; when we recognize that God loves us, we'll love Him back. This is why strive for good, this is why we do not want to sin. Not because we have to, but because we want to. It's not about what can I get away with; it's about how extravagantly can I show my love!

We do not have to give in to the pressure of the world! Everyone born of God overcomes the world! It is not that we can't be worldly, it is that we don't have to!

May the joy of the Lord be in you and may you show your love for God through your obedience. Overcome the world!