THURSDAY June 26, 2025
Living in a Hostile Environment
...despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God....
2 Timothy 3:3-4
Paul gave an excellent breakdown of what we can expect people to be like in the Last Days. We can expect to be despised, because there will be an increase in animosity against Christians. The word despisers means “opposed to goodness and good men” or “hostile to virtue.” Interestingly, this is the only place in the Bible that this phrase is used.
Treachery will also increase in the Last Days. People will become traitors. The word traitors means “a betrayer (in the sense of giving forward into another’s [the enemy’s] hands).” Judas Iscariot is the best example of betrayal, but Jesus, in Mark 13:12-13 NLT, speaking of the Last Days, warned:
“A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And everyone will hate you because you are my followers. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Headstrong and haughty describe a person who is reckless and prideful. The word headstrong gives a picture of someone adamant to make things happen, but not in a good way. They “precipitate” which means they act in haste and often exhibit violent actions without even thinking. They just react.
Again, people who are haughty have an issue with pride. They are so blinded by pride that it makes them foolish or just plain stupid. The word for haughty could also be translated “beclouded and besotted.” They give a picture of a person obscured by clouds. They are muddled, having no clear perception or realization of themselves, because they are blindly infatuated with self.
Last on Paul’s list is lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Simply put, they have a love of self––for their own pleasure. They have no love of God.
As long as Satan is loose in the world and our hearts are dominated by his evil passions, it will never be easy or popular to be a follower of Christ.
~Billy Graham~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
