Does it take the keen edge off my Christian life? Can I ask God's blessing on it? Will it be a stumbling block to others? Would I like to be there, or reading that, or be watching that, if Christ should return at that time?' Worldliness doesn't fall like an avalanche upon a person and sweep him or her away. It is the steady drip, drip, drip of the water that wears away the stone. The world is exerting a steady pressure on us every day. Most of us would go down under it, if it weren't for the Holy Spirit who lives inside us, and holds us up, and keeps us."
Helping Strategy
1. If a Christian inquires about how to be victorious over the world and how to become a spiritually minded person, commend his or her interest in spiritual growth.
2. In order to set the stage for new attitudes and goals, encourage the person to consciously renounce all sinful, selfish desires; to ask forgiveness for them; and to ask God for spiritual renewal: "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).
Share "Restoration," page 17, emphasizing 1 John 1:9 and 2:1. Also share Romans 12:1, asking the person to make a conscious presentation of his or her life to God.
3. Advise being prepared for adversities, temptations, and failures which come to us all when we determine to keep ourselves "unspotted from the world" (James 1:27). God will not permit temptations to overwhelm us (1 Corinthians 10:13), and He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5; John 14:16).
4. Recommend faithfully reading and studying the Bible and practicing daily prayer. There is no substitute for these if a person desires to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we practice these disciplines, a hunger and thirst for righteousness begins to develop which will send us back, again and again, to His presence for confession, renewal, growth, and knowledge: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37–38). This habitual cycle of thirsting and coming to drink will become an indispensable part of one's life.
5. It is often necessary to change one's lifestyle and circle of friends in order to pursue life in the Spirit without encumbrances. Recommend seeking out dedicated Christian people for fellowship, and building new interests