Just some time ago, we counselled a young man. As a child, we knew him to be an obedient boy who seldom whined or disobeyed his parents’ instructions. He was, as a child and without overstating the case, a very well behaved boy for his age. Recently, he had changed. He lost interest in his studies. He had unconventional dressing styles. His parents and relatives were deeply disappointed with him. What happened along the way as he grew up to become a young man? It is a typical case of the world exerting its values on a person. The Bible describes the impact of the world in Eph 2:1-3:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to livewhen you followed the ways of this worldand of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time,gratifying the cravings of our sinful natureand following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

This passage tells us that the world is energised by a super power called “the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work.” In short, it is the king of this world—Satan. It is no wonder then that the world could be so powerful as to damage the inner life of a person. What should we do to protect ourselves?

First, you need to understand that the power of the world is not imaginary but real. Furthermore, it is relentlessly exerting its pressure on us to adopt the values of the world: immoral sexual values in relationships, an emphasis on material possessions, etc. It is like when a person goes 6 feet underwater, the water around him will try to seep into any cavity in his body, be it his ears, eyes, mouth or nose and drown him. Thus, you are continually being bombarded by the values of the world and soon you will look, behave and think like the world and its master—the Devil.

Second, the only way to keep this incessant pressure from changing you is for you to incessantly resist it. Thus, Paul exhorts us “not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (Rom 12:2). You need to consciously point out and resist sinful values that you see and hear in the newspapers, advertisements, television programs, etc. This is especially needful as what you hear and see is often couched in attractive graphics and terms. You can be sure they have the power to change you.

Third, besides consciously resisting the wrong values of the world, you need to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2). It is not workable to simply to put away wrong values because every person must live by some life principles. You need to adopt new and right values. If a person hopes to walk in paths that are safe, holy and right, you need to continually imbibe God’s word that alone contains holy, wholesome and life producing principles. Hence, you must thirst and hunger after God’s Word, the Bible. Read your Bible every day. Someone rightly said: “A dirty Bible makes a clean Christian and a clean Bible makes a dirty Christian.”   Stop loving the world because he who loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).