The downward spiral

2 Timothy 3:1-17 1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.


How much does this passage speak to us today. People will be lovers of themselves. We see this all over the place. It is plastered on every magazine cover. People just love themselves, they spend billions of dollars every year to "improve" themselves. We can see the love of money wherever we go. It is what has gotten our nation into it's current economical problems. Boastful, who hasn't seen a boastful football player? Pride seems to be growing all the time. You just have to watch 5 minutes of a news show to see how abusive people have become. We all can tell stories of kids who have become so disobedient to their parents that the stories don't even shock us anymore. Everyone seems to be ungrateful. There are very few people who even strive to be holy or loving or forgiving. Slander is all around us. Few show any signs of self-control. Brutality is one the rise. People hate the good things and love the bad. Treachery is all over the place, look at the rise of attorney's who sue each other because of broken contracts. People act without thinking; they are conceited, thinking only about themselves and what makes them happy right now with no thought to the future. Pleasure has replaced God the Father as the god of many people. What is the antidote for this? Paul tells us in verse 14

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Continue in what you have learned. Don't give up on it. All scripture is God breathed and useful for counteracting the affects of the world. Be equipped for every good work by spending time learning and applying the Word of God.