God wants us to follow Him, not Satan. When we follow Satan, we are said to have a worldview. This daily devotional reviews what the worldview is.
Devotions in the Self-Discipline Review series
All year, we’ve been looking at self-discipline. We looked at self-discipline as the operational plan for self-control because it talked about improvement.
We are reviewing everything and hopefully putting all of the building blocks together. What I am doing is going through all of the devotions for the year and pulling out the nuggets.
I am formatting this as a glossary page. If I already have one, I will combine them later.
We are called to acknowledge Who God is. God is in all because He created everything; therefore, He has control over all. He wants to bless His disciples, and He wants worldview people to become His disciples so He can bless them.
We need to give up the worldview idea that we don’t need God. We can’t use our understanding as a crutch.
We need to totally focus and depend on God. As we walk in the Spirit imitating Jesus, we find the way to godliness. But the only way we do that is humbly (Rewards for Focusing on God).
Witnessing isn’t going to be easy. We will be challenging the worldview (How Is the Mission to be Inclusive?).
What Is the Worldview?
- The desire to not follow God has just increased since Adam and Eve’s time. The worldview today tells us that we do not have to follow anyone but ourselves – our own desires, our own goals, our own morals (Sins Against God).
- Sin deceives by making the worldview people believe that, “if it brings you pleasure, you need not feel guilty about it.” Increased sin and increased deception makes us question whether it really is a sin at all. This line of thinking is turning to question God and His authority over us (What Is Sin?).
- God doesn’t want us to flirt on the edge on sin. He doesn’t want us to figure out how close we can get without falling. That is the opposite of what our physical nature tells us. It says, “Give in and have fun.” Worldview people would think that is too harsh and use it as one of the major cons for submitting to God. They think we should have the love without giving up the evil (Focus on Love, not Evil).
- A life of sin does not lead to contentment. Worldview people may think so because they think they are calling their own shots. Instead, they are slaves to Satan (Being Content Because We Are Godly).
- Many worldview people do not see their actions as sin. If they do, they do not feel they have suffered the consequences for those sins. Instead, they see indications that there is no judgement for their beliefs and actions. Satan likes it better when worldview people are caught up in sensual and temporary pleasures. In that way, God doesn’t even enter their minds. They think they are good to go. Whatever peace the worldview thinkers believe they have, it is a false peace (Peace Starts with Getting Right with God).
- The worldview tells us that we don’t need God. If we are doing so much for ourselves anyway, why are we messing with a higher power? (Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves?).
- Worldview people think they can be good without God. How do worldview followers appear godly? Many people today care about others. The problem is their motivation. They don’t realize that their actions are, in reality, empty because they lack God’s perfection. Their efforts extend from their sinful nature. Their actions come from the evil in the world today. That is because Satan is controlling this world. If they have not submitted to God, they are controlled by Satan. Good cannot come from evil (Goodness as a Virtue; How Are Disciples Humble?).
- The worldview way is to accumulate knowledge so that we can explain creation and predict the future. They think we should have all the knowledge that God knows. The worldview standard is we — or someone we respect like a scientist — have to understand what is being presented. For example, they think they should know which occurred — creation or evolution (preferably evolution). One reason sceptic people do this is so that they can diminish God’s omniscience. How could God be all-knowing if they know something, too? But we do that to show we don’t need God. Better yet, doesn’t that make them god? Not. Going. To. Happen. God’s level of understanding is way above our pay grade (Watch the Company We Keep; Walking in the Ways of Righteousness; Learning to be a New Creation; Why God Calls Us to Give Up Everything).
- People who hold the worldview do not understand giving the Sovereign God control of our lives. They think it is foolish to worship a God that we do not see. It is not foolish. It is very wise, as one day the Sovereign God is going to judge this world for its unbelief (How Did Moses Say Goodbye?).
- Submission to God creates in us a clean heart (Ps. 51: 10). This is needed because humility goes against what the worldview teaches. The worldview advocates that we value our knowledge and abilities (What Is Piety?).
- Many worldview followers fight for the right to choose how they are going to live, regardless of what God’s laws and commandments say. Refusing to acknowledge God as Sovereign Lord and not living the way He decrees is not going to end well for them (How Are Disciples Humble?).
- If we know God’s will and don’t do it, we earn the punishment we get. The worldview people have a problem with this. This flies right in the face of their ability to make their own choices. Oh, God lets them make their own choice. They are just going to suffer the consequences for making wrong choices. As we are all God’s creation, we will all be judged (Faithful and Unfaithful Stewards).
- The worldview tells our kids to question most — if not all — of their parents’ beliefs. Why is that? It isn’t just because we are given free will. It seems like, a lot of times, that is what our kids are told. Worldview logic says if we are given free will, we should use it – not just believe our parents (Instructing Our Children).
- If we are following the worldview, we get division and chaos. When we take a good look at recent history, we can see the condition of the world has gone downhill since we have moved away from God (How Did Moses Say Goodbye?)
- The worldview wants disciples to compromise — both for ourselves and for them. God does not give us that option (The Battle between Flesh and Spirit).
- I believe that worldview believers insist that disciples are much more critical of others than they are. To me, many worldview people just want to do whatever they want to do (i.e. whatever sin they want to commit) and not be held responsible for it. They are fighting against submitting to the One true God. Many who hold their worldview believe that, if we do not agree with them, we hate them. To me, that is being much more critical of others than disciples are (Are Disciples to be Docile?).
- Worldview followers probably don’t mind being called lovers of self and money. They are perfectly fine with being called disobedient to God (therefore, unholy). Ooo, baby. How many of us want to be called abusive, ungrateful, and heartless? Yep, worldview followers would take issue with that (How Are Disciples Humble?).
- The worldview notion is that we have to fight for our success. God’s notion is that purity comes from the heart. It is more who we are — our character — than what we do. It is where Jesus and the Holy Spirit live within us (How Are Disciples Pure in Heart?).
- We are to walk the path of the righteous. Instead of accessing this wisdom, worldview people walk the path of darkness. The problem is that it is a moral darkness. Oh, I bet worldview people would hotly contest that. They would list all the save the kids, save the animals, save the planet groups with which they are associated. We can’t work our way into salvation. It isn’t about what we can do. It is about what Jesus has already done for us — which we couldn’t do ourselves (The Way of Wisdom).
- The worldview has its own code of honor. But it isn’t God’s honor. We are to honor God because of His character. His honor comes from Him being Him. We show this honor by trusting Him (What Is Honor to a Disciple of Christ?).
- When we are following the worldview, it is easy to get caught up in the fads and trends that characterizes it. If we are wanting world acceptance, we can feel like we are tossed from one fad to another. That can easily happen when our focus is wrong. But what is that really saying about us when we flail around like that? It means we are being inconsistent (How Does Perseverance Help Consistency?).
Father God. We do not want to follow Satan and his worldview. We submit our will and our lives to You. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: Transformed to Unconformity – Seeking God with Elaine