John 3:20-21(NLT)
“All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
God has given every believer the ability to discern what is of His Kingdom, and what is from the kingdom of darkness. Most of us are able to do this, but we sometimes forget our spiritual capacity. We may not realize it or maybe we do, but a lot of us want to hold on to those friends who are knee-deep in darkness, and we enjoy the company of those who do not hunger for God’s love. When you love the Lord, and carry His love in your heart, it will either attract the light to you or it will certainly dispel the darkness around you. The truth of this passage in John 3:20-21 declares this emphatically and says that all who do evil hate the light.
Being a single woman that desires marriage, we must be incredibly careful about this. The enemy knows our weaknesses, and he knows how deep our desire for marriage is. If we’re not careful, this deep desire of ours can open the door for the devil to easily trick and entrap us and do so with a man that looks the part but is far from it. Many of us go into relationships assuming that we won’t be tricked or attacked, but this is a very unwise way of thinking, because the devil is unmerciful and dastardly. If we don’t guard our hearts with the love of God, and seek Him first in all we do, our eyes might be blinded to satan’s tricks.
God tells us in Proverbs 4:23(NLT), “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” This is a verse that is used frequently in teaching singles about spiritually preparing for marriage. Many of them have had failed relationships in the past and one of the underlying reasons for this is because they’ve made a habit of leaping first and looking closely only when it’s too late. When a man expresses an interest in them, and he seems to possess appealing qualities, many single women go all in and immediately invest their whole hearts. Later, they find that although he looked the part of the kind, compassionate, loving, and generous man, he was far from it.
Guarding our hearts involves being careful about what we let in and out of it. It’s using caution and care about emotional choices and connections and steering clear of someone who hates the light. This person cannot love us, because if they haven’t accepted the love of Jesus Christ, they don’t fully love themselves.
1Thessalonians 5:5(NLT) tells us, “For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.” We are children of God’s light and it is our responsibility to give and share the light, but we can get it twisted; there will be men that hate the light and are used by satan to trick us. You might ask, how do I know if this man hates the light? Their behaviors, conversations, and lack of desire to know God through the Lord Jesus Christ will reveal exactly what you need to know. The fruit of anyone that loves the Lord is readily apparent, and you won’t have to question it.
In John 8:43-45(NLT), he told the Pharisees, “Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!” Our Lord and Savior didn’t mince words when it comes to light and darkness. The Pharisees were an extremely arrogant group of people who hated Jesus Christ. They were blinded by satan and did not love the Lord. They would try to trap him with questions, so they could accuse and imprison him if he gave an answer against their beliefs and laws. He never gave them an opportunity. His answers to their questions were so razor-sharp that they were never able to manipulate his wisdom.
God wants us to be wise like Christ, and we very definitely can be if we study God’s Word. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to be tricked by emotionally investing in men that have no interest in loving us through Christ. He tells us in Romans 12:2 that we should not allow ourselves to be conformed to the world in that way. We can’t behave like those who do not love and know Christ. Instead, God tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and then we’ll learn His Will for us. He has a plan for our lives, and our first order of business is to put our relationship with God first. So, let’s keep our guard up, so that we can keep God’s love in our hearts, and keep the wrong stuff out of them.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Keep Your Guard Up”, written by Kim Times, edited by Fran Mack and K. Stephens for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!