Things of the World

Doctrine and Covenants 25:10

And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better.

I have teenage girls.  I know, you should feel very sorry for me!  It is a hard time of life for us all.  That being said, I have learned that girls live in the world.  They are engaged in how they look, who likes them, and what they need to do to be better than their peers.  The things of the world are not the same as the things of God.  They are there to persuade us.  They are full of deceit.  They are full of falsehood.  They are not to be believed.  
If you think I am wrong, look at any magazine in the grocery store that those teenage girls just might be seeing.  Look at the advertisements for makeup, for clothing, for all the things.  Then ask yourself, how did those women get to be so beautiful?  
Let me tell you.  
They start with a plain canvas.  A woman's face.  Then they have professionals fix her hair and her make up.  Those people have degrees to do that.  They know exactly how to bring out her best qualities.  Then there are professional photographers that take the beautiful pictures.  Then those pictures are taken to a computer and "photoshoped" to take out all the "flaws" and minor blemishes.  The finished picture is not even the model that started the session.  It takes her basic features and makes them different and that is what our girls are competing with.  How can anyone compete with something that isn't even real??

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1 Jn. 2:15–17.)

It is obvious the “world,” in these scriptures, does not mean the planet on which we live, but the environment that is created by individuals who live contrary to his teachings.  The world in this case is everything that distracts us from God.  It could be our books (that is a hard one for me!), our music, our movies, our hobbies, our freetime, our desires, our accomplishments. It could even be our total business with the things around us.  We are supposed to live in the world but not be of the world.  I think that means that we need to be around all the distractions, but we have to choose not to follow them.  We have to choose to turn away for the things that aren't real (meaning eternally) and turn toward the only real there ever has been.  The concern is not where we live in the world, but how we will live in it.  It is choosing good in spite of the evil that surrounds us.  It is walking in His paths, and following His teachings.  It is in living a life that will allow us to return to His presence.  It is remembering that Gods plan for us is not a plan for pleasure.  It is the plan of happiness.  

Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can each put aside the cares of the world and come to Him.  Isn't it wonderful that God, how knows everything, still takes the time to listen to our prayers?  To comfort our hearts?  To forgive us our sins? Compared to those unmistakable facts, what does the world really have to offer us?  

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee: 

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for thy courts above.