I'm not sure that Ior quite get it. Why is it that we as Christians want to be like the world? Why is it that we feel we need to act like them? What happened to us acting differently from the world? It's been bothering me as I look at people's facebooks or see their statuses that are either filled with swear words and nasty stuff, or see them "becoming fans" of wrong things or TV shows or music. This kind of stuff from people who claim to be Christians. Then I look at myself. Sometimes I'm not much different. I don't swear or watch those kind of things...but in a lot of ways I've adopted the world's way of thinking and acting. What is the difference between us and the world? Mr. Corbin, my youth group leader, once said this: "The difference between a believer and an unbeliever, is the difference between Heaven and Hell." That's totally completely true.! Why is it that I don't live that way? I have to examine myself.
1. What is the difference between my view and the world's view on relationships?
2. What is the difference between TV and movies that I take in and what the world watches?
3. What is the difference in music and other media?
4. What is the difference in attitude?
5. What is the difference in the way I treat and love (or don't love) others?
6. What is the difference in the way I spend my time?
7. What is the difference in the way I talk and the language I use?
8. What's the difference between the way I dress and the world dresses? (By the way, does the world even have a definition of modesty anymore?)
9. Ultimately, does the way I act or view things line up with God's?
We are told not to love the world or the things or the world. " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." - 1 John 2:15-17. In Romans, God tells us to not conform to the world.
Is it just me, or do we all tend to ride as close to the edge as we can, especially in media choices? I know I can be like that...a lot! Maybe we should be seeing how far away we can stay from sin rather than how close we can get to it. Does the Bible not say to flee from sin? I know seeing sin is pretty much unavoidable, but why is it that we allow ourselves to sit through a movie filled with wrong words or dirty things? Don't believe the lies that say it won't affect us. After all, what you fill your mind with, is what is going to come out. "You reap what you sow."
Another thing we have to be careful with, is taking on the same line of thinking as the world. "It's all about me", or how the world messes around with young relationships that only leads to taking your focus off Christ, or confuse the true definition of love, or that it's all about your happiness, how much money you can make, living for the pleasure of the moment... any of that! We have to be careful that our focus isn't on ourselves or what we can get from life. That's pretty much exactly the messages that are being thrown to us right and left. Remember, it's not at all about us. It's totally, completely about God,
The Bible reminds us in Philippians 4:8 to think on certain things. "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
I encourage you to examine yourselves too! What is the difference between you and the rest of the world? I don't mean things like, "Well, I go to church." I mean in every day life. In the way you talk, walk, act, but especially in what you fill your heads with. Make sure that you are glorifying God with everything, and that you are different from the world.
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