Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 1 John 2:15
“There are two ways in which a practical moralist may attempt to displace from the human heart its love of the world – either by a demonstration of the world’s vanity, so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon simply to withdraw its regards from an object that is not worthy of it; or, by setting forth another object, even God, as more worthy of its attachment, so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon not to resign an old affection, which shall have nothing to succeed it, but to exchange an old affection for a new one. My purpose is to show, that from the constitution of our nature, the former method is altogether incompetent and ineffectual and that the latter method will alone suffice for the rescue and recovery of the heart from the wrong affection that domineers over it.”
Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) in “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection”, 1. We are back to the cold and the snow. It was about -22°C or -6°F this morning, hence the new header photo.
Brian Fikkert who serves at The Chalmers Center at Covenant College, named after Thomas Chalmers, referenced this paper in Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty isn’t the American Dream (Chicago: Moody, 2019) 65. It’s a winner.
Consider the core idea here and how it relates to our generosity. To help people disconnect from attachment to the things of this world, don’t try to convince them of the vanity of the world. You won’t succeed.
But instead, show something more worthy of its attachment, namely God, who alone suffices “for the rescue and recovery of the heart from the wrong affection that domineers over it.”
In plain terms, if you want to grow in generosity today, go enlarge your knowledge of the God who loves you, cares for you, and gave His life to save you from yourself, from your sins.
Do that, day after day, and your attachment to the things of earth will diminish even as your new affection grows for the God who loves you more than you could ever imagine.