1 John 2:12-17: a reflection

12I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 13I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, little children, because you know the Father. 14I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 15Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. 16For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. 17The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.

John warns his readers not to set their love on the world: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. He names what the world offers, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life, and he adds a sobering truth: The world is passing away, along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. The world and all it offers are temporary, on their way out; only the one who does God's will lasts.

Notice the contrast John draws: the world is passing away, but the one who does God's will abides forever. The world, with all its allurements and desires, is temporary, already passing; to set our love and hope on it is to invest in what is on its way out. But doing the will of God is investing in what lasts, in what abides forever. One is passing; the other endures.

That contrast is meant to reorder our loves. We are constantly drawn to love the world, its pleasures, its possessions, its status and pride, as though these were lasting and worth our hearts. But they are passing away, and to love them supremely is to build on what will not last. What lasts, what abides forever, is doing the will of God. Do not set your love on the passing world. Invest your heart, your love, your life in doing God's will, which abides forever, rather than in a world that is already passing away. Love and pursue what lasts; the world is passing, but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

Lord, John warned me not to love the world or the things in it, for the world is passing away with its desires, but the one who does your will abides forever. Reorder my loves. I am constantly drawn to love the world, its pleasures, possessions, status, and pride, as though these were lasting and worth my heart. But they are passing away, already on their way out; to love them supremely is to build on what will not last. Help me see that what abides forever is doing your will. Keep me from setting my love on the passing world. Help me invest my heart, my love, my life in doing your will, which lasts, rather than in a world that is passing. Teach me to love and pursue what endures, and to find my lasting life in doing your will.