From Eden to Shalom: Reordering Our Disordered Loves

Devotional

Day 1: Naked and Unashamed

God placed the man in a garden of breathtaking beauty. He formed trees pleasing to the eye and good for food. Adam and Eve walked with God in this perfect place. They lived in complete harmony with Him, each other, and their work. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. This was God’s original design of wholeness.

God’s design was for humanity to live under His loving reign. He created them to fill the earth, rule together, and enjoy His presence. Their relationship with God, each other, and their work was perfectly integrated. There was no hiding, no competition, and no shame. Everything was very good.

Many of us carry deep shame, believing we are bad and unworthy of love. We hide parts of ourselves from God and others. But God’s design for you is a life without shame, where you are fully known and fully loved. Hear His voice calling you out of hiding and into His light. What area of your life are you hiding in shame, believing God cannot love?

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
(Genesis 2:25, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal where shame has caused you to hide from His loving presence.
Challenge: Identify one lie you believe about your worth and write down God’s truth from Scripture.

Day 2: The Crafty Serpent’s Lie

A crafty serpent entered the garden. He insidiously questioned God’s goodness. The serpent told the woman that God was withholding something from her. He promised that eating the fruit would make her like God, giving her full knowledge. The woman saw that the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. She took the fruit and ate it. She gave some to her husband, and he ate it.

Humankind believed the lie that God was holding out on them. They chose their own desire for wisdom over God’s wise command. This single choice shattered the integrated world God made. Their relationships with God, each other, and their work were broken. What was designed for vibrant life became desolate and destructive.

We still believe the lie that God is withholding good from us. We chase knowledge, control, and experiences, convinced they will satisfy us more than He will. This pursuit always leads to disintegration. Stop and reject the whisper that God is not enough. Where are you currently believing that God is withholding something good from you?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”... But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
(Genesis 3:1, 4-5, ESV)

Prayer: Confess to God the specific lie you have believed about His character and provision.
Challenge: Read Genesis 3:1-7 aloud and note one consequence of believing the serpent’s lie.

Day 3: The Disordered Loves

The Apostle John gives a stark warning. He tells us not to love the world or anything in the world. He explains that everything in the world comes from three disordered loves: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. These are not from the Father. They are from the world, and the world is passing away.

These disordered loves mean we love less-important things too much. We love our own way, everything we see, and our own importance more than we love God. This is the essence of sin. It shifts us from God’s order into our own disorder. It leads to a compartmentalized life that feels wretched and unhappy.

Your disordered loves might be subtle. It could be insisting on your own way in small matters. It might be craving the latest thing you see online. It could be needing recognition for your achievements. These loves squeeze out your love for the Father. What less-important thing are you loving too much today?

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
(1 John 2:15-17, ESV)

Prayer: Ask the Spirit to show you one disordered love that is squeezing out your love for the Father.
Challenge: For one day, pause before any purchase or decision and ask if it is a desire of the flesh, eyes, or pride.

Day 4: Putting On the New Self

The Apostle Paul gives clear instructions for a different way. He tells the Ephesians to put off their old self. This old self is corrupted by deceitful desires. Then they are to be made new in the attitude of their minds. Finally, they are to put on the new self. This new self is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

This is not a call to try harder with your own willpower. It is an invitation to rely on the Spirit’s power. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. This Spirit enables you to submit your whole life to God. You can integrate your mind, body, and soul under His loving rule.

You must take intentional action. You choose to put off the old ways of disordered love. You choose to renew your mind with God’s truth. You choose to put on the new ways of Jesus. This is a daily practice of surrender. What one old attitude or desire do you need to put off today?

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
(Ephesians 4:22-24, NIV)

Prayer: Ask for the Spirit’s power to put off one old pattern and put on one Christ-like quality.
Challenge: Write down one “old self” behavior and one “new self” behavior for a specific situation today.

Day 5: Contemplating the Lord’s Glory

Paul gives a glorious promise to the Corinthians. He says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. He says we all can contemplate the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces. As we do this, we are being transformed into His image. This transformation comes with ever-increasing glory. It comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

God is actively redeeming and restoring you. He is not leaving you in your disorder and disintegration. Jesus Christ secured your freedom on the cross. Now the Holy Spirit works in you to make you more like Jesus. This is a process of becoming whole, of moving toward shalom.

Your part is to fix your eyes on Jesus. You contemplate His glory by reading the Gospels. You worship Him for who He is. You spend time in His presence. As you gaze at Him, the Spirit changes you from the inside out. Your disordered loves lose their power. Will you set aside time today to simply gaze upon the glory of Jesus?

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for the freedom to behold His glory and be transformed by His Spirit.
Challenge: Set a timer for five minutes to read a Gospel story and contemplate the character of Jesus.

Sermon Summary

A vivid memory of natural beauty serves as a doorway into Eden, where God created humans in his image to fill the earth, rule creation, and live in unashamed communion with him. The garden displays goodness and plenty: trees pleasing to the eye, work as stewardship and delight, and intimate walking and talking with God. The serpent’s deceit introduced doubt that God was withholding fullness, and the choice to believe that lie moved humanity from ordered flourishing into disintegration. The result reshaped reality: shared rule became rivalry, joyful work became hard labour, nakedness became shame, and the simple obedience that preserved life yielded death.

Augustine’s diagnosis—that disordered loves underlie human misery—frames the problem theologically. 1 John 2 identifies three forms of disordered love: desires of the flesh (self-will and insistence on being right), desires of the eyes (insatiable wanting and lust amplified by sight), and the pride of life (seeking status and self-reliance). Each of these disordered loves invites compartmentalisation, where mind, body and soul are split off from one another and from God’s reign, producing an inwardly fractured life that leaks into relationships and work.

Integration means bringing every part of life into God’s realm so that mind, body and soul submit, love and live in harmony with God’s design. Shalom—wholeness, peace, and well‑being—begins with salvation and unfolds by the Spirit’s work: transformation into Christ’s image through ongoing submission and intentional action. This restoration does not promise immediate fulfilment of every earthly desire, but it does promise progressive renewal and freedom where the Spirit leads. Remaining integrated requires reliance on the Spirit rather than mere willpower, honest assessment of disordered affections, and concrete choices to reorder loves toward what lasts. The summons is to surrender lesser loves, embrace the disciplines of the new life, and allow the Spirit to restore joy, purpose and unity in the whole person.

Key Takeaways

1. Disordered love produces inner ruin Disordered loves invert priorities so that lesser goods become primary and true goods become neglected. That inversion corrodes identity and belonging, producing shame that says “I am bad” rather than “I did wrong.” Recognising specific misordered affections exposes why persistent discontent and broken relationships endure. Repentance begins by naming what is loved out of order.
2. Desires: flesh, eyes, pride Desire of the flesh insists on personal will and control; desire of the eyes consumes by sight and acquisition; pride seeks esteem and self-sufficiency. Each desire appears as a legitimate good but functions as an idol that competes with God’s rule. Confronting these particular temptations helps trace how sin fragments life. Discernment requires honest attention to recurring patterns of wanting.
3. Integration heals compartmentalised life Human flourishing requires the integration of mind, body and soul under God’s reign rather than confining faith to isolated spheres. Compartmentalisation treats spiritual life as optional or private, producing leaks of inconsistency and eventual collapse. Practical integration means submitting daily decisions, desires and work to God’s lordship. Small, repeated acts of alignment reshape character over time.
4. Shalom arrives by Spirit-led submission True wholeness—shalom—begins with salvation but is realized as the Spirit transforms affections and actions. Spirit-led submission trades self-reliance for dependence on God’s renewing power, not mere willpower. The path to fullness often involves loss and disciplined surrender, not instant gratification. Steady cooperation with the Spirit produces increasing conformity to Christ and genuine inner freedom.

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading: 1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Observation questions

According to 1 John 2:16, what are the three specific categories of worldly desires listed?
What is the ultimate outcome for the world and its desires, and what is the outcome for the person who does God's will, according to verse 17?
In the creation account, what was humanity's original purpose and how did they relate to God and each other before the fall?
What immediate change occurred in Adam and Eve's perception of themselves and each other after they ate the fruit?

Interpretation questions

How does the serpent's lie in the garden directly appeal to the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" that John later writes about?
Why is shame a particularly destructive result of disordered love, and how does it differ from a simple feeling of guilt over a wrong action?
The concept of "shalom" is described as wholeness and harmony in every area of life. How does a life ruled by the three worldly desires actively work against this shalom?
What does it mean to compartmentalize one's life, and why is this approach ultimately unsustainable for a person who is made of mind, body, and soul?

Application questions

Which of the three disordered loves—the insistence on your own way, the craving for what you see, or the need to appear important—most often disrupts your sense of peace and connection with God? What does that disruption feel like in your body and mind?
Identify one practical area of your life, such as your work, a relationship, or your finances, that you tend to keep separate from God's influence. What would it look like to take one small step this week to integrate that area under His reign?
Is there a recurring pattern of wanting—a specific thing you are always chasing—that leaves you feeling more empty than fulfilled? What might it look like to bring that specific desire to God in honest prayer instead of trying to satisfy it yourself?
The path to integration involves intentional action, not just willpower. What is one tangible habit or discipline you could adopt to help your mind, body, and soul submit to God's design in a area where you feel fractured?
How can you tell the difference between a legitimate, God-given desire for a good thing and a "disordered love" that has turned that good thing into an ultimate thing? What questions can you ask yourself to discern the difference?
Pride often masks itself as either great confidence or deep insecurity, but both focus on self. In what subtle ways does your need for recognition or your fear of being overlooked show up in your conversations or thoughts?

Sermon Quotes

These moments that we have in this life are glimpses, they are moments in time where everything seems perfect.

What God had designed as fruitful and vibrant, became desolate and destructive.

Shame is such a toxic emotion; instead of saying "I did something bad," it says "I am bad, unworthy of love and belonging, I need to hide.

Disordered love means that we often love less-important things more, and more-important things less than we ought to.

We are a person made up of mind, body, and soul; all parts need to submit, love, and be integrated in God.

It is only God who can satisfy our deepest needs; it is not our abilities, our talent, or our beauty.

We can only stay integrated and in line with God's desires when we operate in the Spirit, and we do that in the power of the Spirit not in our own willpower.

But it does not mean we will suddenly get everything we ever wanted.

Shalom in Hebrew means peace, completeness, wholeness, and wellbeing, encompassing physical, emotional, social, and spiritual harmony.

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From Eden to Shalom: Reordering Our Disordered Loves

Devotional

Day 1: Naked and Unashamed

Day 2: The Crafty Serpent’s Lie

Day 3: The Disordered Loves

Day 4: Putting On the New Self

Day 5: Contemplating the Lord’s Glory

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Quotes

Chatbot

From Eden to Shalom: Reordering Our Disordered Loves

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