Destroying the idols in my life began with recognizing the subtle ways I placed my identity and satisfaction in things other than God—like money, family, or success—and learning, through prayer, accountability, and surrender, to replace them with a deeper, daily devotion to Christ.
Idolatry is something every Christian deals with in their lives. It is easy to want to place our satisfaction and happiness in things other than God. That's because they are tangible and much easier to attain than becoming wholly sanctified and set apart for God, fully yielded to his will. If not identified, idols can sneak up in our lives. Idols can take the form of many things. They may not be giant gold statues like the people of the Old Testament used to erect when it came to their false gods, but they are still present.
We, however, have many false gods that we worship rather than God. We can worship money, exercise, food, family, work, addictive behaviors, or anything else that may destroy our relationship with the Lord. Idolatry was something that the people in the Old Testament constantly struggled with. They would go for a time where they would cry out to God, and he would save them from their sin in his grace and sovereignty. They would then go for a time of peace, only to find they erect those idols again. They constantly went to places that could not achieve deep satisfaction as a temporary fill for the holes in their hearts.
However, today we don't have that hole. We can fill that hole with Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, people didn't have Jesus to rely on. Today, we have Jesus' death and resurrection to point to regarding God's grace and mercy. Because of that selfless and loving gesture, we can live daily worshipping God rather than idols. Here's how I learned to destroy the idols in my life:
Discover Them
Because idolatry is often ignored (and in some cases even applauded within the Christian church, it is not always easy to identify what idols will look like. Idols can creep up secretly and take over before a person even realizes what is happening. For example, a person who works out constantly and posts pictures of themselves at the gym might worship the God of their body as a temple. While it is essential to exercise and keep your body fit, it is not good to rely on that to get attention or significance. People who work out in a way that seeks their more profound need for love and attention may be seeking exercise for the wrong reasons.
In the same way, people can worship things as simple as their family. Although it seems deceiving to think that we shouldn't put our children first, family can quickly become an idol if we let it. Allowing our children to control what we do, what we say, or how we worship makes idolatry of family an easy idol to erect. For example, kids involved in sports activities can easily ignore church for many weeks based on this principle. It may seem as if parents are loving their kids.
However, the best thing they can do is teach them how to worship freely. Regular church attendance is key to staying close to the Lord. Although watching a child play a sport they love is fun and fulfilling, it is not good when that sport comes before church or other activities that may feed their soul rather than their physical body. While sports in and of themselves are not idols, we easily can make them idols if we let those things come before the more critical activities in life.
Money is also an easy way to make. Because we live in a world where we can make money doing many things, including content creation and other online work, it's easy not only to work a nine-to-five job but also come home and do a side hustle. Many people do these side hustles to make enough money to make ends meet. Working two jobs is not an idol. However, a person doing a side hustle and spending themselves to exhaustion because they need to make money to fulfill their portfolio can easily become idle if they let it.
A person who constantly keeps writing the stocks, making wealth through online portfolios, etc., can put their worth in something other than Jesus Christ. At the end of our lives, it will not be how big our bank accounts are, how diverse our portfolios are, or how much we had during retirement. Instead, it will be how we used our lives, treated people, and fostered our relationships.
Destroy Them
The best way to destroy all idols in our lives is through prayer. We can bring these idols to God, confess our sins and how we've abused these things, and ask for God's forgiveness. As part of his promise, God always says he will offer us forgiveness to those who are genuinely repentant. Even if our idol is something we struggle with and cannot shake, God will be gracious and merciful with us when we ask him to be.
Another way to destroy idols is to ask someone to help keep me accountable. For example, I know that money is something I fear not having enough of. I engage in behaviors that aim to create wealth independently, rather than relying on Jesus. In that case, I need to go to someone to help keep me accountable.
This may not be someone who doesn't have any money. On the contrary, a person with good accountability might have a lot of money and be a good steward. They might help me with strategies to help money not become an idol. For example, people who want to amass wealth for themselves may find that someone who keeps them accountable helps them engage in practices where they give most of their money.
Giving your money to something that will make a difference and change the world for good is an honor. It is not good for us to keep our money for ourselves. When we choose to give our money away rather than keep it for ourselves, God is honored and often blesses us with more money than we can receive simply because he is a good God who doesn't want his children to go without.
When we make money an idol, we rob God of the opportunity to bless us with his goodness and wealth. Sometimes, wealth doesn't come in physical money. Sometimes, wealth comes with the riches and blessings of a God-honoring family, a good job, a home to live in, and living debt-free. These blessings can make someone feel incredibly wealthy.
Last, journaling is also a great way to understand and destroy the idols in our lives. When we write down everything that bothers us, our deepest issues and needs will likely come forward. When we are honest with God, he can reveal the deep issues that are becoming idols in our lives.
When we strive to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, he will reveal the areas hindering us from having a fulfilling and deepened relationship. Once we identify these idols, we have the freedom to cast them off so that we can have a rich, fulfilling relationship with the Lord all the days of our lives.
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