But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
I wrote about this previously, but I do not watch the news or read the newspaper. I subscribe to rss feeds from the major news outlets (An rss feed is sort of like a podcast in the sense that the info comes to you if you subscribe to it.)
But you don't have to have a window overlooking the world-stage to know that man's heart is desperately wicked… do you? We all, at different times and under various curcumstances have lost track of what we should be doing and sidetracked. I can not speak for you, but it is reasonably safe to say that all of us have experiences one or more items from Paul's list: TERRIBLE TIMES. Now, the disclaimer. Scripture says that all men (and women… kiddos too) are going to sin. But if the passage above sounds like your soul's resume… there is a big problem. Feel free to call, email, text, write, or otherwise contact me.
There is one phrase I would like to dwell on for a moment: lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. The first time I read that I got all bent out of shape.
"Paul! Are you saying that there is no pleasure in serving the Lord?"
Of course there is and that is not what Paul was saying. The type of person described above is seeking only to gratify their lusts and serve only him (or her) self.
Now… look at what Paul is insinuating… the believer in Jesus Christ should not be characterized by those things.
Selah (a Hebrew refrain in the Psalms that means "think on these things")
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