Monday Reflection - Week 3

Does anyone else feel like the world has lost its mind?

I’m not talking politics—though that’s part of it. I’m talking about the fact that it feels like we’re living in a reality that’s coming unglued. People are more divided than I’ve ever seen. Basic conversations turn into battles. Truth feels negotiable. And scrolling through social media for five minutes leaves you feeling like you’ve entered an alternate universe where rage is the only currency that matters.

Some days I sit with my coffee and think, “Is this really happening? Did we always live like this?” It doesn’t feel real. But it is. And we’re supposed to navigate it.

Here’s what I keep coming back to: Paul saw this coming. Two thousand years ago, he warned Timothy about exactly the kind of world we’re living in right now. And his instructions weren’t to panic, hide, or fight fire with fire. They were to stand firm and be different.

Let me show you what I mean.

The Passage: 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

What This Means for Us

Read that list again slowly. Lovers of themselves. Boastful. Proud. Abusive. Unforgiving. Slanderous. Without self-control. Rash. Conceited. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

Does that sound familiar? Because it should. That’s not ancient history—that’s our Monday morning news feed.

Paul wasn’t guessing. He was warning Timothy—and us—about the “last days.” And here’s what we need to understand: biblically, the “last days” began with Christ’s first coming and continue until His return. We’ve been living in this age for two thousand years. These characteristics have marked every generation since the apostles—including ours.

The chaos we’re experiencing isn’t new. It’s the ongoing reality of a fallen world that rejects God. But here’s the thing: this isn’t a surprise. Scripture told us exactly what to expect.

The world feeling unreal isn’t evidence that God has lost control. It’s evidence that His Word is true. We’re not in uncharted territory. We’re in the season He described. And He didn’t leave us without instructions.

But look closely at what Paul actually warns against. He’s not just talking about the culture out there—he’s talking about false religion in here. “Having a form of godliness but denying its power.” People who look religious, talk religious, but don’t know the transforming power of the Gospel. Empty Christianity. Performance without the Holy Spirit.

That’s who Paul says to separate from—false teachers who would lead us astray with religion that has no power to actually change us.

But here’s the critical distinction: We separate from false teaching. We don’t abandon the world Christ came to save. We don’t join the chaos, but we do engage it with truth and love. We don’t become what the culture is, but we don’t run from it either.

As followers of Jesus, we have a different calling. Not to control the culture, but to be so fundamentally different from it that people notice. Not to shout louder, but to live quieter, steadier, more rooted in truth.

And here’s the hope: Christ didn’t just give us instructions to white-knuckle our way through chaos. He died and rose to transform us from the inside out. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us and gives us the power to be different—not through self-effort, but through His transforming work.

The world is losing its mind. That’s what fallen humanity does when it rejects God. But we don’t have to lose ours. We’ve been given a new mind in Christ.

This Week’s Challenge: Guard Your Inputs

Here’s your action point this week: Ruthlessly guard what you consume.

Scripture is clear about this. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” And in Philippians 4:8, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

What you put into your mind shapes how you see the world. If you’re constantly scrolling outrage, consuming political rage, feeding on chaos—you will become what you consume. You’ll become anxious, divided, angry, and exhausted. But if you feed on Scripture, truth, and what is praiseworthy, the Spirit uses that to transform you from the inside out.

This isn’t about willpower. It’s about positioning yourself where the Spirit can do His work. You can’t renew your own mind—but you can choose to fill it with what God uses to renew you.

This week, do this:

  • Limit your news and social media. Set a timer. Ten minutes, not two hours.
  • Increase your Scripture intake. Start your day in God’s Word before you open your phone.
  • Choose one piece of truth to meditate on instead of ten streams of noise.

You can’t control the world. But by God’s grace, you can control what you allow into your heart and mind. And what you consume will determine whether you stand firm or get swept away.

Prayer

Father,

The world feels chaotic. It feels like everything is unraveling. But You are not surprised. You told us this was coming.

Thank You for sending Jesus to die and rise again—not just to save me from my sin, but to transform me by Your Spirit. Thank You that I don’t have to navigate this chaos in my own strength. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in me.

Help me to remember that this is not a time to panic, but a time to stand firm. Help me to be different—not louder, not angrier, not more divided—but different. Rooted. Steady. Anchored in You.

Give me the wisdom and discipline this week to guard what I allow into my mind. Help me to turn off the noise and turn toward Your truth. Renew my mind by Your Word and Your Spirit. Remind me that I don’t have to consume every outrage, respond to every argument, or participate in every battle.

You’ve called me to love You, to act justly, to walk humbly. Help me to do that today, even when the world around me has lost its mind.

I can’t fix the world. But through Christ’s finished work and the Spirit’s ongoing power, You are transforming me. Continue that work in me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Stay anchored.

humble