Idols of the Heart

Scriptures: 1 Peter 2:9-10, Matthew 13:20

Do you remember the day you decided to become a Christ follower? In the 1970s we used to sing “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.” We would go up for prayer for salvation to the choir singing “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Thee I freely give.” I still get goosebumps as I think of those days and what it meant to give my heart to Jesus. 

However, for many of us, we get caught up in the daily-ness of life. We forget the commitment we made to surrender all and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Different affections grab at our hearts. So how do I live as a new creation wholly devoted to Jesus? 

Here are some truths I would like to remind ourselves of before we dive into this devotional. 

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. 1Peter 2:9

PEOPLE OF PURPOSE AND PRESENCE

God has chosen you for a purpose and to become someone unique. 

He made you a chosen people (so it’s not just you alone; you are knitted to a worldwide web of believers). 

Not just that — he made you a royal priesthood!!! You serve before the King of Kings. 

A Holy Nation — God always wanted a people for Himself who would be a light for the world, that through them many would come to salvation. 

WHY?

So that we may show forth the praises of Him to the ones who still do not know Him. 

We need to realize that, while we have been made righteous in Christ, we must walk away from our former loves. It is like saying goodbye to all the old boyfriends/girlfriends because you are now engaged to Jesus and there is a grand wedding that awaits all of us at the end of time. The old loves are akin to the idols of the heart. These are things or people (not necessarily bad in themselves; in fact, they can even be very good things) that we love more than Jesus. 

REFLECTIONS

Can you recount the day you gave your heart to Jesus? 

Were there any habitual sins or a sinful lifestyle that you knew you needed to give up? 

Would you say you are as radical with dealing with sinful habits today as you were when you first got saved?

Scriptures: Revelation 19:7-9, Romans 8:13, 1 John 5:21, Matthew 15:19

Let us remember who we are. We are a chosen people, holy and set apart. We are the bride of Christ who is making herself ready for His return. We are to keep ourselves for Him and Him alone. When we forget the WHY of our lives, we lose our way and allow other things to grab at our hearts. 

Paul tells us that we must put the deeds of the flesh to death. Don’t try to tame it, don’t try to control it. You must kill it. 

What was physical in the Old Testament is spiritual in the New Testament. Remember the first commandment: 

And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.3 You shall have no other gods before me.” Ex 20:2-3 

We may say that we have no idols or other gods that we worship and that we only follow Christ. Let us do a pit-stop check. You may be right. How about the idols of the heart? 

Remember you are not common; therefore, you cannot live as if you are. We are reminded repeatedly that we are strangers in this world. And yet, this is how many Christians live. They want the perks of prayers answered, etc., and they want to flirt with their old ‘boyfriends’. 

IDOLS OF THE HEART

So, what are some of the idols of the heart? There are many and they keep us from fulfilling our calling and thus weakening our influence on the world. 

What is an idol? 

Anything that we desire more than God or that takes the place of God.

The Greek word is epithumiai — over-desire. 

Idols of the HEART – the word of God says the heart is the wellspring of life (Prov. 4:23), and out of the overflow of the heart comes all kinds of greed, etc. (Matt 15:19) 

So, while we may look at someone and say, “Oh, they are power-thirsty, they are a control freak, they love pleasure, etc.,” those are only the fruits of idols of the heart. Behaviour is a product of beliefs which are the ROOT of the issue. 

Dealing with the idols of the heart is not about behaviour modification but heart transformation. When the heart is in the right place, the behaviour automatically follows. Whenever you see a behaviour change (good or bad), you know something has changed in a person’s heart. 

Some idols can even be good things. The key is we over-desire them. 

Timothy Keller writes, “God was saying that the human heart takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the centre of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfilment, if we attain them.”

So, an IDOL is anything that we make the ultimate thing in our lives, over God. 

REFLECTIONS

Can you recognize the things you have desired more than God? 

Ask the Holy Spirit to start showing you those areas that are still not surrendered to Jesus.

Scriptures: Jeremiah 17:9, James 1:14-16, Titus 2:11-13

We have seen that idolatry is a heart issue. People abandon God’s ways and do things their way as they become wise in their own eyes. Look at Adam and Eve. Eve did not want to go to God for wisdom and knowledge. She wanted it independent of God, the fount of all wisdom. Eve desired the fruit more than God. 

Idols of the heart are very deceptive because we can sometimes justify our actions by weaponizing scripture. Example: When we sin, we can minimize our behaviour by saying, “God is loving, He is forgiving, He is gracious. He does not condemn. He wants the best for me.” We take scripture out of context and its overarching principles to suit our ends. 

At the root of idolatry is a lack of trust in God’s goodness and that He will always give us good things, even when the wait is long. 

Religion, too, can be an idol when we seek the gifts, ministry, position, more than Jesus. 

AREAS OF IDOLATRY

Let us look at some broad categories of idols of the heart. Here is one: 

PLEASURE /FEEL GOOD

We live in a feeling-driven world. If it feels good, it must be right. The feel-good idol wants a life of pleasure at all costs. This person is feeling driven and does not walk led by the Spirit. Their lives are ruled by wrong and undisciplined feelings that dictate to them in ways you cannot imagine, and they call it freedom! Freedom is not permission to do your own thing; rather, it is freedom from inner compulsions. 

The feel-good idol will also make you do anything to numb the pain and seek pleasure. You can’t always feel good, yet you want to show that you are in this constant state of happiness. Just take a look at people’s Instagram posts and reels if you think this is not true. The need to project that all is well all the time causes you to live in deception and creates a false impression. 

This idol also says, “Do not disturb my life, my doctrine, my comfort level.” 

REFLECTIONS

Have you ever wrongly used scripture to justify your behaviour or choices? 

Do you identify with the above broad categories of idols of the heart? 

Is there anyone you can talk to about them?

Scriptures: Acts 5:1-11, James 4:6, Romans 8:26

AREAS OF IDOLATRY

PRETENCE OR LOOK GOOD

Yesterday we looked at the Pleasure or the Feel-Good idol. Today we will look at the look-good idol that is all about appearances. Life in God is about being authentic. Insecurity makes you hide who you are. So, you pretend, and it is bondage. This makes you lie, cheat, and create false impressions, and you will do all kinds of things to make a good impression on me. People pleasing is very important to you. 

Remember Ananias and Sapphira? They are the equivalent of our ‘Instagram posers’. They wanted to show that they were something great, and more generous than they were. They lied and exaggerated their commitment to the leadership. Likewise, we project an image of ourselves as holy, serving, giving, and spiritual so that people perceive us in a certain way, but the real you is seen and known by God. 

POWER OR BE RIGHT AND STAY IN CONTROL

This idol is the one that has destroyed many marriages and friendships. It is the inability to yield. Friendships have gone sour, and churches have split because of pride and the inability to say, “I was wrong, please, forgive me.” This idol manifests itself in defensive, contentious, stubborn, and self-willed behaviour patterns. The person will not have the humility to say “Yes, you are right,” ‘”I never thought of it that way,” “I will consider what you are saying,” or simply, “I am wrong!” 

You can lose friendships, your marriage and even your job over this one. Whatever it is in your mind that says, “You must do it my way” points to an idol of control. They will not do anything another person says because they feel they have lost control!! 

The idols that we have in our hearts come at a cost. What is the price that you are willing to pay to keep them? 

Though we struggle, we have One who helps us to overcome. Jesus died for us who need Him daily. Jesus died in our place so that we can give up our idols and embrace Him. We need to be willing to die to ourselves. We can do this by His grace and the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth and helps us in our weaknesses. 

REFLECTIONS

Do you identify with any of the above broad categories of idols of the heart? 

Have you lost a friendship or soured a relationship because you were unwilling to admit your fault? Ask God for grace to set it right today.

Scriptures: 1 Samuel 15:30, Genesis 4:4-5, 2 Samuel 11:2-4, Philippians 4:19, Romans 12:2

EXAMPLES OF IDOLATRY

· No one encourages me after I have preached a great sermon, done an amazing job at leading worship, or done a fantastic presentation at work. The result is I feel dejected, useless, unloved and devalued. I could be struggling with an idol of the need for approval or the Look-Good idol. The underlying belief is that my identity as a child of God is not good enough and I need something else to boost my self-esteem by seeking the approval of people. 

· I lack generosity and do not tithe. The underlying belief is that I need to take care of my finances because I struggle with believing that God can supply all my needs and that He is my provider. I need to stay in control of my life. 

· I get into an intimate relationship outside my marriage or am addicted to pornography. The underlying belief is God’s plans for me are not good enough and I need to satisfy my needs in the way I want. So, the need for pleasure and the Feel-Good idol drives me to break my marriage covenant or indulge in sinful habits. 

· I had a disagreement with a friend, and I was wrong in what I said and how I said it. I have caused hurt. I try to justify my behaviour and play the blame game. I do not admit I am wrong, nor do I seek forgiveness. Which idol do you think is operating here and what is at the root of it? 

Behind these behaviours are feelings and thought patterns that are fueled by conscious or unconscious belief systems that are lies that we are partnering with. These beliefs are lies planted by the devil in our minds. When we think about them and act upon them repeatedly, they become strongholds and idols of the heart because we believe in the lies more than the truth about God. 

Unless we can identify the root, which is the belief system, we will not be able to uproot the idol planted in our hearts. Ask the Holy Spirit to shed light on your heart and show you the roots. 

REFLECTIONS

· Take your journal, and in one column write down a list of idols you think are in your heart. 

· In the second column write down how it is manifesting in your behaviour. 

· In the third column write the lie you have believed about God in this area. 

· In the fourth column write down scripture that speaks truth into the area. 

· Then confess the truth and renounce the lie. As you do this over and over, your mind will be renewed and transformed.

Scriptures: Psalms 139:23-24, 1 John 1:9, Psalms 32:5, James 5:16, Matthew 3:8

SOLUTION

What will keep us from falling into the trap of idolatry? Remember idolatry is placing anything or anyone above Jesus. It is an over-desire for something that takes us away from worship and obedience to God. Here are some steps you can take toward renouncing those idols of the heart. 

RECOGNIZE

Firstly, we need to be able to recognize the idols in our hearts. This requires humility and asking God for grace to be able to see the idols. We all need to pray the prayer King David did, asking God to search our hearts because only He knows us best. 

REPENT

When the Holy Spirit shows us, we need to repent of the idols lurking in our hearts and seek God’s forgiveness. Repentance is not just saying “sorry.” It is then acting upon it and doing the opposite of what those idols once dictated to us. We are commanded to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. So, if I was in the habit of lying to cover up my faults, I will now take responsibility for my actions and own up and speak the truth. 

RENEW

In Romans 12 we are told that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Therefore, what I feed my mind on can either feed the idol or kill it. I need to recognize the sin behind the apparent sin. What are the beliefs behind my behaviours? 

CONFESS

God has given us a family to walk with who can hold us accountable and pray for us. Find a trusted friend or talk to your mentor about the idols you are struggling with and permit them to hold you accountable. 

Thank you for doing this devotional. I pray that you will be transformed day by day to lift Jesus higher in your life and become more like Him.