“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold …” New International Version, shared online at Bible Hub.
What does “the love of many will grow cold” mean?
Definition and Key Scripture
“Matthew 24:12 states, “Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” This phrase appears in the midst of Jesus’ prophetic teaching about the last days and the challenges His followers would face. It points to a decline in genuine love-both love for God and love for others-that will characterize the spiritual climate of a world increasingly filled with sin and rebellion against God.
Context of Matthew 24
“In Matthew 24 (often referred to as the Olivet Discourse), Jesus addresses His disciples’ questions concerning the destruction of the Temple, the signs of His coming, and the end of the age. Within this discourse, He warns about false messiahs (Matthew 24:4-5), wars and rumors of wars (24:6-7), famines and earthquakes (24:7), persecution of believers (24:9), and increased lawlessness (24:12). These signs are interwoven, culminating in a call to endurance and vigilance.
“By specifying that “the love of most will grow cold,” Jesus underscores that amidst rampant sin and deception, many people’s devotion and compassion-once fervent-will wane. This represents not merely external hostility but an internal decline in commitment to God’s ways.”
Before you can ridicule, ignore, or hate God, first comes the cooling of the heart, the ignoring of the ordinary care of human beings, and the plight of humanity disadvantaged by the heartless lack of concern of others.
Notice the “they’ll die anyway” banters of the greedy ignorant among us. They tell on themselves in their egotistical race to the supposed top of the pigpen trough of endless desire of your personal power, fame (your reputation), and fortune (the keys to your cash). No matter how much you hand over to them, it will never be enough.
Once you dismiss the Source of your Spirit/Soul’s power and hand it over to the bottomless pit of greedy hands, minds, and voices, you begin to lose your Spirit and Soul, which is your sense of the Gift of your Life. You lose your identity as the Child of God that you are, which they deny both that you are, and that to which you are entitled.
They do not seek to follow God. They seek to make a big show of saying they follow God. But you can tell them by their fruits.
After “God,” (also known as the Eternal Universal Life Force Energy of the Spirit/Soul within every human being), is dismissed as a trivial thing among greedy and arrogant humanity, it is an easier leap to their next dysfunctional step of taking from you to give to themselves, all with twisted and perverted justifications, of course.
The cure for wickedness is practicing virtue, as explained in TRANSITIONING INTO THE AGE OF AQUARIUS, subtitled, AN ENLIGHTENING JOURNEY. I am a finalist for the 2025 International Impact AUTHOR OF THE YEAR writing competition.
I first began teaching how the practice of virtues can save humanity at a time such as this back in 1999 when I published the 7-lesson book, The Virtue of Virtues.
https://www.iuniverse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/809142-the-virtue-of-virtues
What originally began as a 7-week lesson for 6th grade religious education students, turned into a 7-lesson plan for parents to teach their children in the privacy and comfort of their homes.
Parents asked me to write this book since they also realized that there was more for their 6th grade children to learn than how to put their condoms on and what gels to use. Morality appeared to be missing, in their and my opinion.
As a former newspaper reporter for 20 years, in each chapter, I used the 6 reporter questions that make a good story: what, why, how, when, who, where. Each of the 7 lessons includes these sections: What? is a present time story. Why? ask students 3 questions. How? asks students to explain what was read in this lesson. When? is an Old Testament story. Who? draws in students to be included. Where? gives students the opportunity to give examples of where these virtues could be applied in their everyday life. Each lesson concludes with 6 additional optional activities.
For us adults, the signs of the times today call for the natural remedy of teaching and practicing the lost art of Virtues: faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.
Once the virtues are practiced, the fruits of turning the tide from wickedness to virtue will bless all societies in the world with charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, endurance, mildness, faith, modesty, restraint, and chastity. This is what will heal the world.
Virtues are a morality solution to an immoral world which only seeks self-glorification, greedy gain at all costs (as if that is a good thing), and egotistical self-service.
Whatever you focus on grows.
What are you focusing on?
God Bless Everyone Everywhere