1 John 2:15—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.

Ask yourself this—What is the "love of the Father" then?

Someone proposed this idea along with my previous question. -Are we really in the world and not of it? - Because if we lined up everything that is in our lives from entertainment (music, movies etc.) to our daily conversations and the decisions we make what would it reflect more of? God? Or a love for the things of this world?

            To answer both let me start here, I believe when it says "the things of this world" its saying it more than just in a literal sense, I think we can take that to being a principle. What I mean is this, the answer to the question of what the love of the Father is a self-less love. Which would mean to love the world or the things of the world is to be the opposite of the Fathers love, which is a selfish one. Think about it, when one loves this world and the things of it it's usually for their own selfish desires. This is testament to the fact that both cannot coexist. "If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him"

 "Are we really in the world but not of it?" When you have a selfless love in a selfish world you are IN it but no OF it. Now don't get caught up on the word love itself because it goes farther than that, for when you have a selfless love then everything from your morals, lifestyle, actions, principles, and desires happens in the direction after the spirit rather than world. Why? Because a selfless love is like a sacrificial love, which means a separation, in what? Your morals, actions, principles, lifestyle and desires. The life that Jesus lived couldn't be a more perfect example. We wonder how at times He could live such a life that desired and thirst after righteousness. Some may say "well it was easy for him, He was God!" But I think we soon forget that when He took on the human form He took on the burdens that came with it. That meaning the burden or struggle to attain to righteousness on a daily basis. I have to believe though that what kept Him going through the 40 day fast, through the constant battles from the Pharisees and the pain of the Crucifixion, and even into the prayer He prayed in the garden, lest we forget He had a CHOICE, was His SELFLESS love. A love after the direction of the spirit rather than the world or more importantly in this case his flesh. It was that same selfless love that drove him to a dying out of everything he was and to the cross for a lost world. It was that same selfless love that gave him the ability to be in this world but not of it.

I wonder what would happen if we could get to a point of real selfless love. A place where we are literally and totally IN this world but not OF it.  It amazes me to think what is possible for my life or how high God can take me If I could just get to a point where I to have the love of the Father ruling my life and directing my every step. A point where every decision I make is made as Jesus made His in the garden. A life with the words "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.", stamped on it. Take that to a greater scale. What would happen if our generation tapped into just a reservoir of that kind of love? One sold out Christian with a calling can accomplish much but what could a sold out generation with a purpose do? These questions I hope will not be answered with words but rather with our actions.