Is your heart in the world?

Is your heart in the world?

The goal is not to have as much as possible of this world, but to let go of everything.

28/10/20223 min

By ActiveChristianity

Is your heart in the world?

3 min

There are people in the world who ask how far they can go without actually breaking the law and being caught. They are very close to becoming criminals.

Amongst believers, there are also those who always ask: “Can I do this? This can’t possibly be sin? Can’t I have that? This doesn’t matter, does it?” Such people are very close to falling in sin. They feel judged every time they’ve gone too far and have come into conflict with God’s commandments.

Such people do want to go to heaven, but their heart is in the world. They want to have as much as possible of the world. So, many of them have created something that they call a “middle way”. They allow themselves as many things of the world as possible that are not specifically commanded or denied in the Bible. But they are in a very dangerous state.

John says, “Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father.” 1 John 2:15 (GNT). And Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21.

Such people do not have the same attitude of mind that Jesus or Paul had, for their heart is actually in the world.

Paul says in Galatians 6:14 (GNT), “ …for by means of His cross the world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world.” He writes further in Philippians 3:8,13-14, “I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. … I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead.” This shows the mind of Jesus Christ and a love for the Father.

If you do not have this same attitude of mind, then you really need to get converted.

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This article is based on an article by Aksel Smith which first appeared under the title “The goal is not to take along as much as possible of this world, but to let go of everything” in BCC’s periodical "Skjulte Skatter" (Hidden Treasures) in May 1912. It has been translated from the Norwegian and is adapted with permission for use on this website.

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