Worldliness: The Pride of Life

Discipleship Devotional, April 15th, 2025

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.
– 1st John 2:16 (KJV)

When the devil was going to tempt Jesus, one of the temptations was that he took Him to a high mountain and showed Him all the glories of the kingdoms of this world. The third major component of worldliness is an unbridled lust for status and earthly honour, called “the pride of life.”

This is the major reason many people enter into secret confraternities, hoping it will provide them status in society. People do all manner of things because of the pride of life. The pride of life offers the illusion of God-like qualities; it seeks to make us boast in arrogance and trust in material possessions.

This component of worldliness is what makes many people derive their value from material things. The pride of life is what manifests when we see and esteem people by what kind of car they own, or what kind of clothes they wear, or how rich or poor we perceive them to be. This is a great sign of worldliness.

So Christians will always be lured by the same three temptations because Satan doesn’t change his methods. He tempts us with the lust of the flesh—sexual gratification, gluttony, excessive alcohol consumption, drugs, etc. He tempts us with the lust of the eyes—the endless and insatiable desire for more, better, and newer possessions, which ensnares us and hardens our hearts to the things of God.

But perhaps his most evil temptation is the pride of life, the very sin that resulted in Satan’s expulsion from heaven. We must never allow our hearts to become submitted to the pride of life.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to resist the temptation of deriving my value from earthly status. Help me to only find value in You.