Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. 1 John 2:15-17 The Message The Message is a paraphrase of the Bible, but yet it lends such a dynamic clarity to words we often gloss over due to familiarity. These verses are frequently misinterpreted by well-meaning Christians who take separation from the world much too far. It is not my intention to be of a critical spirit, but it pains me to observe people in groups who insist that their members dress differently and live entirely isolated from the world, especially when it is against their will. The verses in 1 John 2 urge us to have diff...