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| Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. |
| —1 John 2:15-16 |
“I really love McDonald’s double cheeseburgers! And, I really love the music of The Eagles. I also really love my stuffed animals. And, truthfully, I love to read mystery novels.”
Have you ever heard someone makes statements like the ones above? Let’s face it, people use the word “love” inappropriately all the time. Seriously, can a human love something that cannot love him or her in return? I don’t think so—not at all.
The Apostle John gives very precise instruction in the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post. “Do not love the world or anything in the world,” states the Apostle. It is important to note that in the Koine New Testament Greek text, the Apostle uses the neutral nominative form of the word we translate as “the”—indicating that the word “the” refers to non-human entities, or as translated, “things.” In other words, John is clearly stating that which we are not to love are those items that cannot love us back because they are not of human substance.
So, when we say we love any creature or object that is not of human origin, we use the word “love” improperly. Now, I realize that, in making this claim, I have immediately offended every pet owner on earth.
“Surely,” “you would likely insist, my dog or cat or bird loves me.” I do not doubt that your pet responds to your kindness and affection in a way that you have translated into human understanding as “love.” And, I also realize that the response of your pet is both precious to you, heartwarming, and evokes within you a sense of joy and well-being.
However, since your pet does not possess the necessary human reasoning power, your pet cannot really love you in the same way another human can love you. But, that fact does not diminish the role your pet plays in your life, the importance of your pet, nor the great value that pet has to you.
The contrast that the Apostle John makes in the Scripture verse above is rooted in the understanding that our love must be invested in someone who can love us back. That is the very reason that God created humans. God wanted to create someone who had the capability of loving Him back. God created us to love Him. And, of course, that is why God pours His love into us—even though, because of our sin, we do not deserve His love.
One of the main problems with our society today is that we have invested nearly all of our capability to love into things that cannot love us in return. The Scripture verse delineates the major catagories: the cravings of sinful man that appear as the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boasting of what one has accomplished. Said another way, our sinful cravings are fueled by the things we see that we wish we possessed, the desire to satisfy our sexual impulses, and the self-satisfaction, or pride, we feel because of what we have accomplished.
If we invest all our time and energy pursuing these sinful pleasures, we have no room for genuine love. For all real love comes only from God. It is He who places within us the capability of loving—truly loving—another human being. And, it is God who gives us the ability to love Him back.
We need to carefully examine our lives and determine where we may have put some “thing” as the focus of our love, in place of loving back the God who first loved us. Then, we need to re-focus our lives in applying the love that God has given us by loving Him and also loving other humans who so desperately need to be loved.
