The three worldly desires (Part 1)
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 1 John 2:16
This amplified version sums up the three worldly desires from the key verse today in the following way:—the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things. ]
In a similar way, Satan tempts Eve as well as Jesus with these three worldly desires. As for Eve, she saw that the forbidden fruit was good for food (Gen. 3:6), which appealed to the lust of the flesh. She saw “that it was a delight to the eyes.” This appealed to the lust of the eyes. She also saw “that the tree was desirable to make one wise.” This appealed to the pride of life.
Likewise Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread (the lust of the flesh). He showed Him all the kingdoms of the earth, offering to give them to Jesus . (the lust of the eyes). Thirdly, Satan tempted Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the temple, exhorting him to be prideful as he achieved this miraculous feat.
According to one commentary, "the lust of the flesh" refers to the desire to do things that go against God's will. Sex, hedonism, and idolizing bodily pleasure are common examples.
“Lust of the eyes” is when we desire to "have" something contrary to God's will, such as materialism, or the desire to look attractive, powerful, or smart, idolizing pleasure for the soul. As opposed to the first two lusts, which are more inwardly driven, the pride of life is an outward display of the things we possess. Status symbols can define our identity, namely that we feel important and can take pride in who we are.
These three worldly desires are anti-trinity. Does that mean Christians must abstain from all enjoyment of life like monks? Absolutely not. As long as we don't lust after them. In the Bible, we are instructed to "flee from lust", but what is lust? In Greek, lust is epithymia, which means to set one's heart upon something, pursuing one's own passion instead of relying on God. We can enjoy the blessings of life when our hearts are set on God. Part 2 will discuss how to overcome worldly desires by loving God.
Blessing prayer: Keep us from loving the world and things of the world. May we have pure hearts to set our hearts only on you. In Jesus' name, Amen
