Read 1 John 2:15-17.

When we live under Christ’s authority, we’ll experience all the blessings, benefits, and joy of a holy life. But it is also possible to receive Jesus as Savior and still miss out on the blessings of life at its best. We can lose the abundant joy He intends for us when we take our eyes off Him. The apostle John outlines three ways that believers can handle their wayward hearts in his first epistle. Today, we’ll examine the first. John tells us to keep three sequential gates shut: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).

John sets up this idea with a caution: “Do not love the world or anything in the world” (v. 15). When John speaks of the world, he is talking about the world system rather than God’s creation. He’s referring to the fallenness of the world—the aspects that run counter to God’s holiness. The world system and God are in constant enmity with one another, and we are incapable of loving both.

You may also wonder, “But doesn’t God want us to love the world?” Well, when Scripture says that God loves the world, it means that He wants to redeem His children out of this fallen world (see John 3:16). When Christ loves the world, it’s because He wants to save His people from sin. He’s motivated by compassion and sacrificial love. When we love the world, it’s because we love the sin in the world. Our love is motivated by indulgence and selfishness, which is why we need to keep three crucial gates shut.

The first gate is “I want it.” The second gate is “I cannot rest until I get it.” The third gate is bragging about it: “I got it!” It’s craving, grabbing, and bragging. These are the same three gates that Satan led Adam and Eve through in the Garden of Eden—greed, covetousness, and pride. They are also the same gates he tried to draw Jesus through in the wilderness, but Jesus shut these gates tightly and pressed on along the road to the cross to secure our salvation and empower us to shut these gates, too. The Christian life is not an uptight life—it’s surrender. Every morning, we can come to the Father and say, “Lord, I surrender to You. Shut these gates.” And He will. These are the three gates we must close tight to live life at its best.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Christ’s perfect life lived for me. Thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to empower me to say no to sin. Please make me aware of these gates in my life—of greed, covetousness, and pride—and shut them for me. I surrender to You, my King. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).

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