Thought for the day: If you are loved and accepted by the world, you're probably doing something wrong.

I've been wrestling lately with the subject of my relation to the world I live in. It's true I will only be here on Earth for a short period of time in light of eternity, but how am I supposed to "be in the world but not of the world." First, I believe there needs to be an agreement among believers that there is a balance to be found in this area. Complete isolation from the world was never God's intent but he does lay down some truths in scripture that help us to clarify what our relationship to the world should be like while we're here.

Truth #1 Because God chose us out of the world, we are no longer loved by the world but are hated by it (John 15:19)

Truth #2 We will experience tribulation in the world (John 16:33)

Truth #3 Friendship with the World is hatred toward God (James 4:4)

Truth #4 God calls us to be holy (Lev. 11:44, 19:2, 20:26; 1 Peter 1:16)

Truth #5 In part, pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God is this: keeping oneself unstained by the world (James 1:27)

I try to make myself appealing to the world, but every time I do this, I find that it requires me to put Christ on the shelf. I think this is the reason why God caused us to be in such opposition with the world. People who walk with the Lord have no choice to be in the middle. With this opposition comes a means of testing your faith. Testing if it's genuine. If loving God was praised, that would raise up a generation of mediocre believers. It would be easy to live that life.

I think that God has called us to a more difficult way of living: A life in the world, but not of the world. Paul talks about this all the way through the epistles. Jesus showed this with His own death on the cross. The Bible calls us to be crucified with Christ.

I can't say that I'm leaping for the oppurtunity, but if God says it, then I believe it.