Obviously, there are many things in our world that threaten our relationship with God. Sometimes people fall rapidly from grace. At other times, moving away from truth happens in a subtle manner. One constant temptation for some—and among the greatest of dangers—is divided loyalties.
Many Christians have two loves that divide their hearts: love for Jesus, and love for the world and its sinful practices. Trying to satisfy both sides won’t work. Jesus warned, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). We must choose one side.
God’s Word says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). It is impossible to love the things that we know are wrong and still give our hearts to Jesus.
Still, too many people want to see how closely they can follow the world and still be considered Christians. They want the benefits of Christianity, but they also desire to conform to the world; they want to fit in and participate in its pleasures. People in this situation aren’t being honest with themselves or with God. They are attempting to walk a narrow thread that doesn’t exist.
In contrast, God tells us that we should “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed” (Romans 12:2). He wants us to be changed and conformed to the image of Christ, not the world. The Bible says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). The Lord wants us to become like Jesus so we can be trusted in heaven.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2