A friend started my day by telling me he avoids earthly things that many of us would find interesting. To be devoid of temptations, I suppose, is what he meant.
1 John 2:15 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.
I’m on my way to Copenhagen, excited about my first visit to Scandinavia. Can it be scandalous to some if I shared with them what I hope to enjoy there? Can they cope with that?
I replied to my friend, the Lord created this beautiful world for us to enjoy. How can it be that we are taught not to love the world? And if we did, God’s love is not in us? That’s unsettling for someone who looks for things beautiful, be it living or non living. Could this well-meaning teaching be the reason why urghhlings do not care about the environment that is vital for our wellbeing and future? Could this be the reason why some in our recent history, have destroyed the art, architecture, culture, music, and literature that awaken our senses and add to the colours of life’s palette? Love not the world? Why not, if indeed one believes it’s God’s creation for us? Should we not revere it, care for it, protect it?
I suspect there’s got to be a typo error in the Bible. If any man does not love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That sounds better to my ears.
Words are indeed the biggest source of misunderstandings. No doubt my friend will say I’ve misunderstood His words.
Urghhlings 
It refers to the temptations of the world as can be clearly seen in the next verse -“1Jn 2:16 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. ”
Not it’s environment or earth which is God’s Creation
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Yet, if the lust (desire) of the “flesh” is wrong, why are we made of a hundred billion neurons in our brain and many thousands of meters of nerves in our body? The joy of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste is a heavenly gift. Can desiring God’s gift be wrong? Without the lust of the eyes, we would be oblivious of the beauty that is possible. The likes of Vincent Van Gogh, Monet, Rembrandt, Michelangelo would have not been possible, and our world would be the poorer.
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