Who are your friends?

Source

In James 4.4 it is written: Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, anyone who wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. But what does it mean to be "friend of the world"? It means loving the things of this world, about to treat them as true gods, replacing the true God. How is it possible for someone, in a healthy conscience, to substitute God for something worldly? This can happen consciously or unconsciously in a person's life, and is more frequent than you can imagine.

Part of the secular situations is absolutely neutral: the position that people take before them is that they transform them into a blessing or a curse. An example of this is soccer. A game of this sport can be a blessing when fans go to the stadium just to have fun. However, when a fan stops exercising other activities to attend a game, miss work, stop studying, stop frequenting the church - only to twist - the sport becomes a true god in that person's life.

Another example is money, which by itself is absolutely neutral. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. The salary or any income can be a blessing applied in the work of God, in social actions, donations for nurseries or asylums. However, it can also be a curse, when an individual obsesses to win more and more, becomes selfish and clings to the goods that money can buy.

An individual can also become a "demigod" in the life of another person. This happened with Abraham, who began to love his son, Isaac, more intensely than God himself. The same is true today in the lives of many men and women, who place their husbands, wives or boyfriends as the greatest love of their lives, overcoming the love of the Creator. There are many couples who, in their oaths of love, declare that they are capable of doing everything for the beloved, but they do not say the same with the Heavenly Father. Jesus warns us that we should love our neighbor, but not love anyone other than the Lord (Mt 22.37-39).

In addition to the first verse quoted at the beginning of this text, the Bible also condemns love for the things of this world in other passages. One of them is the famous parable of the sower, when Jesus tells us about those who listen attentively to what God says, but "the cares of this world and the seduction of riches choke the word, and it remains unsuccessful" (Mt 13.22). ). The Holy Scriptures do not condemn anyone for usufructing material objects. On the contrary, there are passages that clearly tell us that man must yes usufruct. The problem is when such objects become "gods" in someone's life, and the true God becomes something abstract or unreal.

consequences

The consequences of having friendship with the world, according to James 4.4, are terrible. In the merely material field, when a person replaces the Creator with something earthly, he is susceptible to easy losses. The longed for "own house" can be the center of a man's life. Even if a certain residence has its deed registered in a notary, it has been designed by the best architects and engineers, it will always be subject to catastrophes, assaults or fires. A close relative can become the reason for someone's life. But he can die at any moment.

Another consequence that the friendship of the world brings is less visible to human eyes, but more devastating - and it happens in the spiritual world. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. In the dictionary, "enemy" means something against which one is at war, adversary, hostile. Therefore, to be friends with the things of the world is the same as to sin. And the wages of sin is death (Rm 6.23). In this way, when looking for professional, sentimental or family success, be careful so that victories in these areas do not take the place of God in your life.