ISB ~ 1 John 2 v15 - 17

John urges readers to let go of the world and embrace the Father (4:4). Although God made (Gen 1:1) and loves the world (Jn 3:16), the human family turned against him and surrendered itself to the devil (1 Jn 5:19). Since then, the propensity of fallen man is to love the world in selfish and disordered ways—feeding his flesh with its pleasures, his eyes with its possessions, and his spirit with its pride. Christians are called to renounce the world, not as something evil or detestable, but as something that threatens to consume our attention and turn our affections away from God. The ascetical disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are venerated in Jewish and Christian tradition as practical ways to express our love for God and lessen our love for the world (Tob 12:8-10; Mt 6:2-18) (CCC 377, 2514). For different meanings of the term “world” in the writings of John, see note on Jn 1:10.