Thirty Days of Victoryਨਮੂਨਾ

Have you ever been around someone who only hears what they want to hear? When receiving feedback, they only hear parts of it that seem to complement their actions or attitudes. They conveniently "forget" anything that might challenge or reflect negatively on them. If something does not fit into their ideals, they dismiss it. John describes the false teachers of his day like this. The false teachers in his time were telling people only what they wanted to hear, and not the truth about Jesus.

In John's time, Gnosticism was a popular belief within culture. Gnostics emphasized the mind and believed that Jesus was not a real person with a real body but that he was manifested as a body to teach people how to escape this world. John deliberately says that people who acknowledge that Jesus came in a real body were truthful and could be trusted, while this heresy could not.

What kinds of false teachings are going around in culture today? Some of the popular ones are that being a good person can secure you eternity in heaven, that following your heart is the way to happiness, and that "your truth" is the most important truth. Regardless of whether we are dealing with Gnostics like John or these false teachings in today's culture, John assures us that we who follow Christ and the teachings about him in Scripture are victorious in this world. God's Holy Spirit within us helps us discern the truth, even when others do not listen to us. Through his Spirit, God leads us to the truth in his Word, and that leads to victory over the lies of this world.