“Unless you find out the world is evil you will fall in love with this world.  There is no alternative.”~  Michael Wurmbrand

Most Christians know that we are not supposed to love the world.  Afterall, the Bible says that anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. How do we know where our true affections lie?

We find the answer by testing our actions.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8 that we test our love (for Christ) and find out if it is genuine by giving…and not just by giving, but by comparing it with how others give!  He provides the comparison of the Macedonian churches who, in a severe test of affliction, gave not only according to their means, but also beyond their means, out of their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty!

So, to test our love we ought to compare our giving to the churches in Africa, Asia, etc.  How about comparing ourselves with Experito’s church in impoverished northern Uganda that fasts two days a week from all food and gives the food they would have eaten to the hungry?  Or to Antioch Presbyterian Church in Korea who gives 70% of its church’s income to missions?

If we’ve fallen in love with Christ, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by selling our possessions and giving all we have to reach the lost and meet the needs of the poor.

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? I John 3:17