what is worldly living?

what is worldliness? What is "worldly living," according to the Bible? I have had some very loving, faithful, caring Christians say, be careful do not get caught up in worldly living, but I find myself confused and struggling because I can not seem to get a real definition on what is "worldly living" in the Bible.

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The above is from a question asked of me, and the more I consider it, I find myself unsure of how to answer?? I know and understand what sin is, and what sin is spoken of in the Bible but I believe this person is talking about subjects that may not have a clear answer? My first thought is that "worldly living" is being distracted by the things and cares of this world, or living for ones self but I am not sure if that is really a full answer?

Thank you for any advice on this
God Bless
mary

1 John 2:15-17 tells us what the world is and here is two versions...

Phillips
15 Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. 16 For the whole world-system, based as it is on men’s desires, their greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid, is not derived from the Father at all, but from the world itself. 17 The world and all its passionate desires will one day disappear. But the man who is following God’s will is part of the permanent and cannot die.

King James Bible
15 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. 16 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. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

MaryJane, we have to live in this world and be a part of it but it does not have to have hold of our hearts. I knew a man years ago and the Lord told him to fast from coffee for three weeks; he didn't think he'd live because he loved coffee! But he did it and came out a different man; not because of the coffee but because he obeyed God.

We have freedom to have "things" and even do things but the difference, I believe is when those "things" have us. Does that make sense?

God bless,
Lisa

I find this verse in Romans 12:2 very useful,

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Sanctification is the process of being freed from worldliness. It is a very day process that happens by renewing (look at the present continuous tense used here) of our mind. Each day a believer might find more worldliness in him and he has to repent (turn away) from them to be more Christlike. It is not a one day process of being completely free. But the point here is to be blameless, that is with things that I know I do not stick to the pattern of World.

What is the pattern of World? It is what the people of this world seek and run behind. Which is honor to themselves, money, pleasure, entertainment etc. As a Christian I might be doing some good work but one day I might get discouraged as no one is appreciating my work, that day God will reveal to me that I have been doing this good work to get honor from men and not with an intent to serve him. I need to immediately acknowledge it and turn away from it. It is like revelation, every day you get to know new things in which we are worldly.

KrispyKrittr....Worldly living to me is having a mind that is not set on the things of God... but mirrors the world. After that everything else follows suit.

Krispy

I am one that personally believes that the mind is controlled by the heart. I don't know if there is any scientific proof this is the way it works, but I totally believe it works this way. So going a little deeper, to me, worldly living is having a heart that is not set on the things of God.

I am one that personally believes that the mind is controlled by the heart.

Mind is our thought life, the flesh always wants to control the mind. But a born again man who lives by Spirit will have his mind set on the spirit instead of Flesh. The spirit does not posses the mind like how flesh does.

Sree....Mind is our thought life, the flesh always wants to control the mind.

The heart is part of the flesh, we were born with both the heart and flesh. The spirit is a new birth, and the new birth "spirit" now speaks to the heart and the heart to the mind, this is how we are now transformed by the spirit.

Thank you all for your replies. Some really good thoughts here and much that I can take away from to share. I feel like I have a better understanding of expressing what I was thinking on this topic.

God bless
maryjane

Too often we live and walk after the flesh, even as believers. This form of living causes us to focus on the externals in our walks with the Lord. So we try to define worldly living by what we do or do not do.

But true salvation is a regeneration of the Spirit that should result in a walk of holiness. Holiness can be defined very simply as obedience to God. If we learn to walk in the spirit we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, and will not have to worry about trying to decide what is worldly and what is not worldly. We will be obedient to the Holy Spirit's dealings in our heart and by nature of that obedience will not be found doing that which would bring shame or reproach on Christ or that would cause us or others to stumble.

This is not to say that we throw away knowledge of what is truly Godly and what is worldly. Obviously we could all look at certain activities, attitudes, etc. and agree that those things are worldly. But what is at issue is not trying to define them, but rather that we learn as born again people to walk in the spirit and be led of the Spirit in all things.

It is, I guess, a matter of focus. The first focus tends toward more fleshliness and legalism and will only strengthen sin. The second will tend toward true liberty and genuine holiness.

There are So many wonderful verses that apply, but I think that if the person who posed the question is a diligent seeker of God, continuing in learning the person of Jesus and all he taught, the Holy Spirit will lead that person away from worldliness. Jesus said we cannot serve two masters, we will love one and despise the other. We also read that the love of money is the root of all evil... not the money but the affection for it.

As I think about your question of "what is worldly living" I think that it is scriptural to say that it is everything that we can set our affections on and use to stand on or lean on- that give us a sense of worth or satisfaction that will not endure on the Day of the Lord. The lust of the eyes, the pride of life... It can easily be clothes and cars, mocha lattes etc... but getting rid of those things without an inner conviction would be a dead work.
Which leads me to wonder if it is even possible to daily take up our cross and crucify our flesh and still remain worldly.

Good topic!
onemite

onemite wrote:As I think about your question of "what is worldly living" I think that it is scriptural to say that it is everything that we can set our affections on and use to stand on or lean on- that give us a sense of worth or satisfaction that will not endure on the Day of the Lord. The lust of the eyes, the pride of life... It can easily be clothes and cars, mocha lattes etc... but getting rid of those things without an inner conviction would be a dead work.
Which leads me to wonder if it is even possible to daily take up our cross and crucify our flesh and still remain worldly.
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I was thinking after reading over what some of the others have shared here that maybe there is no one size fits all definition for what is "worldly living??"

As Krispy mentioned to some not wearing a tie is "worldly living" while to others it may be something else. I know of one christian who felt convicted after a time for spending so much time working in her garden, she adored her flower beds and took great pride in having them look really nice. She mentioned that the hobby of gardening had become a very worldly thing for her.

God bless
mj

Very blessed what you said MrBillPro....

For me, there are 2 opposites that compete for our hearts (or rather where our hearts draw fulfillment from). If we set our heart on the world, then that is where our treasure will be.

The divine antidote for the love of the world is ...... the love of the FATHER.

I once saw a coming of age film, where the boy started patterns of self-destruction to deal with the traumatic events that occurred in his life. This cycle of decay was suddenly stopped when his father, out of concern and despair, grabbed the boy and held him tightly to his chest. There, in the safety of his father's embrace, all the tumult in his heart ceased.

The world will always draw those into bondage, who do not know the Love of the Father, and have His Love IN them, namely ... Jesus.

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the LOVE OF THE FATHER is not IN him. 16 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.

From C.H. Spurgeon, Morning & Evenings, June 27 (morning)

"... the world loves not the non-conformity of nonconformity, or the dissidence of dissent, it would have us be more charitable and not carry matters with too severe a hand. Death to the world, and burial with Christ, are experiences which carnal minds treat with ridicule, and hence the ordinance which sets them forth is almost universally neglected, and even contemned."

"Worldly wisdom recommends the path of compromise, and talks of "moderation." According to this carnal policy, purity is admitted to be very desirable, but we are warned against being too precise; truth is of course to be followed, but error is not to be severely denounced. "Yes," says the world, "be spiritually minded by all means, but do not deny yourself a little gay society, an occasional ball, and a Christmas visit to a theatre. What's the good of crying down a thing when it is so fashionable, and everybody does it?" Multitudes of professors yield to this cunning advice, to their own eternal ruin."

"If we would follow the Lord wholly, we must go right away into the wilderness of separation, and leave the Egypt of the carnal world behind us. We must leave its maxims, its pleasures, and its religion too, and go far away to the place where the Lord calls His sanctified ones. When the town is on fire, our house cannot be too far from the flames. When the plague is abroad, a man cannot be too far from its haunts. The further from a viper the better, and the further from worldly conformity the better. To all true believers let the trumpet-call be sounded, "Come ye out from among them, be ye separate."

hi, worldly living is something that others do.

I have been pondering this myself, and this is the answer that I feel I have received from the Lord.

Being worldly is the equivalent of having an adulterous heart with respect to our love for God.

We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. If we love anything else that is not for the purpose of loving God or glorifying him, this is adultery.

It can be compared to a husband and wife relationship (as the Lord does throughout the scriptures). If either spouse were to even be attracted to another person, this would obviously adultery, as Christ clearly stated. Even more so, since Christ died to call us out of this world, it is adultery when we are attracted to the things of this world. This is why 1 John states that he who loves the world does not have the love of the Father. The two are incompatible.

What this looks like for the individual believer is different, because we all have different lusts that tie us to this world. As you mentioned, a friend felt that tending her garden was worldly for her. That would not be the case for me, because I could care less about my garden. However, I have different lusts in my heart that pull me into this world. For me, following those lusts would be worldly living.

I was explaining this to my kids the other day as we drove by the local fair and they were commenting on the rides. I commented to my children that when they feel that their soul is pulling them to something that is of the world (entertainment, food, clothes, the home, etc.), that is adultery toward God and they should pull away from that. It is not to say that we cannot enjoy anything. It means that anything that is enjoyed NOT for the purpose of loving and glorifying God is worldly.

It comes down to being led by the Spirit (and being merciful towards others without judgment because you do not know where the Spirit is leading them). It is not following a bunch of dos and don'ts. It is spending time with God and in His Word so that He can speak directly to you and guide and cleanse you with His Spirit.