Page 75 - GOALS PDF

The Apostle John says, “Do not fall in love with the world,

neither the things that are in and of the world.
If anyone loves the world, then the love

of the Father cannot take root in him.”

Let’s look briefly at a few of the symptoms of what it means to combine
a secular and a spiritual way of thinking and living. Eight things stand

out to me, but there are probably more.

(1) They make decisions without asking God’s will.

(2) God is only a part of their life, usually in church once a week or less,

or during a ‘quiet time’ when they have one.

(3) Most of their time is spent in self-focused, worldly matters.

(4) They attend church because it’s the proper thing to do and they see

friends. It’s more social than it is spirit.

(5) They think more about what others think of them, not how God

thinks of them. In John 5, Jesus indicates that when we seek honor
from other people rather than God, this even adversely affects our

ability to trust him and believe and live a gospel life.

(6) They have what Paul calls ‘a love of money.’ Their focus is often on

how little money they can get away with giving, not how much.

(7) They have little sense of the gospel — it’s more like ‘gobbledegook.’
The gospel is just a term they hear, but they never engage it.

(8) Their focus is not on drawing others to God or helping them mature.
They are more like reservoirs, not rivers, which we talked about.

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