Removing the Splinter: Idoltry

Offend my mind to get to my heart. Hmmm if someone told me I was an idolator it certainly would not cause an opening in my heart. Some people don't like explaining things in a gentle way because they think it has no effect. But the side of God I am most in love with is his gentle and sensitive side. So i always use that approach when I am explaining things to people.

 What is interesting is that i've been thinking about the things that cause low self-esteem. One of the big ones is comparing our lives/selves to others. A more gentle way to put a form of idoltry is comparing. The word idoltry seems to be harsh, it almost has the phrase attached " YOU SINNER".

So lately ive been realizing that God wants me to let go of a lot of things. The reason why idoltry is such a problem is it causes us to remove our focus on God and on the things of this world that are fleeting. Idoltry can be obsession with our weight, relationships, status, job  etc etc . . anything that consumes our thoughts and actions. Idoltry can get in the way of our relationship with God and sometimes lead to greater sin. See the enemy wants to distract us because if he can distract us then we are disarmed when a spiritual attack comes. So to prevent ourselves from this we must seek first the kingdom of God and THEN everything else. Idoltry decieves us into thinking that our inner hungers are met ... when in reality it leaves us unfed. Idoltry makes us unhappy with our lives because we forget the goodness of God, and we start focusing on the things we want or don't have.  The reality is NOTHING can statisfy us like God and he loves us so much that sometimes he doesn't give us the things want because when we idolize them without seeking him first ... we can't be ready to recieve them, because if we got them we would lose God. For a long time i was deceived to think that God doesn't care about the desire of my heart, because i was SO obsessed about having this one thing I was angry at God because i didn't have it, I even walked away from church. I pointed a finger of blame on him when really, the problems was in me. "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the Truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:24-25 RSV). We would focus on that idol and use it to fill the place in us where God needs to be. God wants to give us him and more ... he does want to give us the desires of our hearts, but we just can't lose him in the attainment of that.

Ouch that one hurt to realize ... alot to let go of. .... thanks God for pulling that one out of me. Thank you for protecting me even when I was too ignorant to see the truth and caught in my ways.