September 25, 2026 | Be Connected
Fleeing Evil Desires
Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:22-26(NIV)
22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Devotional
To flee from the ways of the ungodly culture is a great image. We are not to just hang around evil and hope it doesn’t affect and infect us. We are to run away as fast as we can. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says Christians should “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18) and “flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14). Here he generically says to “flee the evil desires of youth” (2 Timothy 2:22).
James puts it another way, saying, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Satan is the source of evil. Resisting him and fleeing from him will cause him to flee from us. Why? Because we are submitting our thoughts, words and deeds to God. As Paul puts it, this is done that people “will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:26).
It’s an interesting thought that we are either fleeing evil or remaining in it. Martin Luther once said, “You cannot prevent the birds from flying in the air over your head, but you can certainly prevent them from building a nest in your hair.”
I don’t imagine he ever saw an Alfred Hitchcock movie, but I think he meant that when you see birds of evil prey, run! Allowing evil to nest in our lives is dangerous business.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul said, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Grab the thoughts and lock them up. Seize the words and push them back down. Repent of the actions and submit them to God. Recognize the temptations and run for the hills!
And what’s in the hills? God’s righteousness, faith, love, peace, and kindness. For it is God alone who gives us what we ought to long for in our lives.
