Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in this world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and pride of life is not of the Father but of this world.
1 John 2:15-16
The First Letter of John teaches us a great deal about loving God and loving others. The first lesson we learn comes in the words above. John teaches us that to love God and others we must not love the world. By the world, he does not mean creation or people, but the values of this world. Lust of the flesh means love of pleasure. Lust of the eyes means love for possessions. The pride of life means love of power.
Each of us will be tempted to love pleasure, power or possessions most of all. If we love the things of this world, we crowd out our ability to love God, who give us the power to love others.
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you are tempted to love pleasure, possessions and power. Pray for the grace to love God most of all.