Any False Idols in Your Life?

We all have false idols in our lives. Sometimes we know of them; others times we don’t. At one point in my life, I had a false idol I didn’t know I had: my intelligence.

I believe this idol was formed by a combination of two things:

1. Being told I was smart by many people.
2. Being told I was dumb by many people.

And, yes, as odd as it may seem, those two very different things worked together to create something very ugly in my life – an idol – because my heart was unguarded by the Truth.

Perhaps you have experienced something similar to this in your life?

For me, the idol of intelligence manifested in feeling proud about myself as well as trying to prove to others how smart I was. I would be easily offended when I would be criticized or when someone would disagree with my opinion. I put forth strong efforts to sound smart by using big, fancy words that most people never heard of before. In other words, I thought I knew better than others and I cared too much about what others thought of me. And, boy, did I ever rub people the wrong way because of it.

But, the absolute worst consequence of this idol, as it is with all idols, is that it replaced God as the most important focus in my life. Many times I would care about building up my intelligence and showcasing it to the world more than I cared to develop my relationship with God and produce spiritual fruit for others. My love, hope, and trust were mostly placed on myself and my intelligence, and not on God. This was a problem.

It was a problem that I’m glad was brought to light and solved when I decided to go deeper with my faith by getting more involved with Christian community and being intentional with reading Scripture. Now, although I can no longer say my intelligence is the most important thing in my life, there are times when I forget that God should be my number one priority and focus, and not anything else.

Unfortunately, we all struggle and stumble with properly centering our lives around God. And the best thing we can do when this happens is to take it to the Lord in humility and prayer and ask him to help us become more like Jesus so we can love and serve him with a heart that prioritizes him above all other things.

Dear Father, thank you for the love, patience, and grace that you have for me every day. And, thank you for your Son, Jesus, who models the perfect love for you. Please reveal every idol in my life and give me a heart that wants you as my number one focus, for you deserve all of my love, hope, and trust. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Throughout This Day: Ask the Holy Spirit to help you examine your heart and see where you have maybe made something into an idol in your life. Then, take whatever comes up to the Lord through humility and prayer.