15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me.
“Such as are haughty and self-conceited, rush against the mighty hand of God, and destroy themselves; but those that are humbled under it, will be protected by the same. Whatever knowledge or skill we may obtain in the schools of human learning, the Scripture does not yet allow us to be truly wise, but calls us blind and mere worldly students, till we learn to be poor in spirit, lowly in heart, and dead to the world. Therefore, the more a man dies to this world, the more is he enlightened.” K. H. Von Bogatzky
“Jesus modeled for us the proper balance. He walked among the worldly without becoming like them. He mingled with sinners but He never sinned. He showed them God’s love and spoke the Truth without compromise. Even when He faced betrayal and torture and an excruciating death, Jesus stood for Truth because He knew the eternal significance of His sacrifices.” Michael Youssef
“Does my life and conduct correspond to my high calling as a Christian? Am I actuated by the love of Christ instead of worldly ambition? Do I prefer God’s honor to my own and justice to gain? When I look to myself, I feel such a burden of sin that no other hope of salvation is left me but in the mercy of Christ alone.” Gregory VII - Hildebrand
“A Gospel-empowered believer rests his or her identity in Christ. In his Epistles, the Apostle Paul often used the expression “in Christ.” We can’t come close to addressing the breadth of this phrase, but to be “in Christ” means to share in Christ’s death and resurrection, and to be placed under the headship of Christ rather than under the curse of Adam. It means that we now live with a completely different relationship with God. Christ’s death and resurrection are the foundations of the Gospel-driven life. Dying with Christ means finding no life in the things that used to run our lives and it means living under a new dominion and a new King. For instance, while self and success are the central motivations in a performance-driven life (expressed in varied ways), Christ calls us to do everything for his glory and not for our own. Being raised with Christ means rising to a new way of living under his Kingship... Rather than being driven by a selfish desire to be successful for our own glory, we’re moved by a passion and calling by God upon our lives to be image-bearers and missionaries in obedience to Christ and for the glory of God.” Tom Wood & Scott Thomas
“The entertaining of any worldly lust, and indulgence of any known wilful sin, is an accursed thing, by which we are deprived of the power of God, and cannot stand before our enemies. Behold, therefore the severity of God, and be more earnest. Make all haste to flee from the lust of the world, especially from the lust of the eye, which is the love of money. Examine thyself closely in other things, and whatever sinful lust harbors in thy breast, be faithful to put it off, and flee from it, else you must not wonder at your being so weak in spirit. He that does not resist the sinful motions of his heart, will very easily give a loose to his hands and tongue; but he that immediately subdues the inward corruptions, will certainly be preserved from their breaking out in any sinful actions. O Lord, deliver me from all accursed things, and keep my heart always under thy closest inspection and discipline. Amen.” K. H. Von Bogatzky