All you have to do is turn on the news and it is overwhelming how much hate, violence, and selfish greed abounds. If you work in a job involving customer service, you will also find an abundance of demanding, rude, and self entitled people who thrive on making enough of a scene to get what they want. When I think back to how society was in my early childhood years and compare it to today, I would definitely have to say that it makes for more difficult times. The more godless or self centered a society becomes the more that society begins to implode ( collapse inward upon itself).
Paul gives warning that as society abandons the truths and values of God, times will get more difficult for all.
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (1-5)
Well, we can't avoid such people all together, but we can make wise choices about who we surround ourselves with in our groups of intimate friends and companions. Instead of letting the world influence and change us, we should hope to influence and change the world. As God gets pushed to the sidelines of modern culture, we have a responsibility to be light in a world growing ever darker.
Have you known persecution? Paul says to expect it if you are a follower of Christ "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.." but as he continues, he also shows us that sinners suffer a self inflicted persecution.
"...while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Satan's specialty is deception and it is a downward spiral of destruction because it leaves a person empty and cut off from the love of God. No matter how much we may suffer because we follow Christ, , it is the deceived of this world who suffer the greatest loss of all.
Paul encourages us in v 14 "continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed". He ends this chapter with some of my favorite verses for they speak of life and mystery and the awesome gift we have because we can read the sacred Word of God.
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (16-17)
The world chooses to be deceived. We can choose to know truth. The world chooses to self destruct. We can choose to be equipped by God and made complete.