The love is not envious

One of the things that prevents Christians from bearing fruit is the love they have for the things of this world. I have never seen a Christian who loved the world bear fruit in this world. Some people try to proclaim the gospel to the lost, but deep inside they would like to live in the same conditions as these, be they financial, material, or otherwise. I remember telling the gospel to a man who was praying in an occult way for the people on the street ! He was trying to steal my land. This man started telling me that he was very rich and could finance what I was doing. Oh, I hated this dirty tunic... Yes, Jude exhorts us, saying : "Save others by tearing them out of the fire ; and for others, have pity mixed with fear, hating even the tunic soiled with the flesh" (Jude 23).

Some Christians have lost everything because they envied things in the lives of those to whom they proclaimed the Gospel. Some still think : "Well, why should I tell them the gospel ? They have everything you need, and more than me !". It's a big mistake of judgment. They have nothing, and we have everything. Some evangelicals (like Reinhard Bonnke for example) have been offered financial support that looked good but was in fact nothing more than straightforward proposals from manipulative minds. Fortunately, those who, like Reinhard, discerned the source, refused this money. Others accepted it and inflicted a lot of pain. They lost their power.

James will say that if we are envious, we will not be able to obtain a result for our prayers (James 4: 2). That is why the apostle John will say : "Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). This is a blatant statement : if we love the things of this world, then one thing is certain, it is not the love of the Father that animates us, but another spirit.

Jeremy Sourdril