Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

1 Peter 2:11 NLT

παροίκους       παρεπιδήμους

paroikous       parepidemous

• To live near, but not in.

• To be close, but not from.

• To be in, but not of.

  But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. ...

  Philippians 3:20 NLT

   

  For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.

  Philippians 3:18-20 NLT

   

  Because You’re a Citizen of Heaven

   

  You will think differently from this world.

   

  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. ...

  Romans 12:2 NLT

   

  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

  Colossians 3:1-2 NIV

   

  You will live differently from this world.

   

  Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.

  1 Peter 2:11 MSG

   

•  I am a citizen of heaven. My life belongs to God. Because earth is not my home, I think differently and I live differently.

• If you don’t actively resist the current of culture, you’ll drift into the deception of this world.

• Don’t worry if you’re different from the world. Worry if you’re not.