"There shall be No other Gods before me"
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME" -Exodus 20:2-3
I have been fighting with myself lately over thoughts of me idolizing or putting something above God. I never want to hold something or someone above my creator, but in life we can sometimes do this unknowingly. Since we are daughters of the King, the precious Holy Spirit will convict us of this and offer us an opportunity to, realize it, repent and fix it! For me, I feel my phone and social media had become an Idol in my life. I found myself checking my phone literally every idle minute that I had. I would wake up and first thought was "where is my phone". I would grab it and begin to check text messages and social media notifications. I would spend ample amounts of time in the morning before even getting out of the bed to tend to the needs of my phone notifications. I also found myself saying, "man, its already 9am, I haven't even read my bible yet"
At first, I didn't really think nothing of it because once I was finish tending to my phone I would then get my bible and go read. Although, I was then racing the clock because I wanted to be done before my daughter would wake. And some mornings, she would get up before I even touched my bible which then made it even more difficult for me to spend time with Jesus with no interruptions. I then started to notice that through out my days I constantly held my phone in my hand and checked and scrolled on multiple social media sites. Like it was to a point where I would stop at a stop light and immediately grab my phone and check social media. I could be having a conversation with someone, and the moment I stopped talking I was grabbing my phone to check it. It was truly insane and as I'm typing this I am somewhat embarrassed lol.
After a while, Holy Spirit began to work with me and bring to my mind that Hmmm, has my phone become something that I prioritize over Jesus. Am I more concerned with what man has to say to me through my phone over what the Almighty God has to say to me. Is God pleased with me waking up first thing and grabbing my phone? Holy Spirit, showed me that at this point daughter, you have made your phone and social media an Idol and we need to get this under control. I then began to study and research what it looks like to make something an Idol over God and I wanted to share with you all what I have learned!
If you can say yes to at least one of these 6 things, then my sister I would say that thing is or has become an idol. Note that thing can be a person, place or abject. It can be ANYTHING.
1. This thing is causing me to step out of line and disobey God.
I.E a relationship that you are in and you have now given into lustful desires. You are saying things that are not of God to please this thing for example, using profanity, or taring down a sister or brother.
2. This thing is what you go to, to find ultimate joy.
I.E you feel that you can only have joy and happiness if you are with or have this thing. We know that God is our ultimate source of joy and happiness, He makes all joy complete (John15:11). While He has created things for us to find joy and to be happy about, we must know and understand that without Him there is no Joy, there is no happiness, the ultimate joy comes from Jesus and not this world.
3. This thing consumes your thoughts at all times.
I.E wanting to be in a relationship or married. Yes a thought can be an Idol. If you are constantly thinking about something more than you think about Jesus, my sister you are now idolizing those thoughts over your thoughts of God. Jesus should ALWAYS be on your mind. Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be given to you." God knows what you need and your desires, keep Him first and He will do the rest.
4. You fear losing this thing the most.
I.E this could literally be anything. Fear does not come from the Lord. This world is temporary but God is eternal, the only thing that you should fear about losing above all else is God. Know and believe that if He allows you to lose something, He has something even greater coming.
5. This thing gets most of your time and energy.
I.E Me with my phone! Also me with the last relationship I was in. I would miss out on my morning time with Jesus just to be able to talk to this person when they were avaliable or wanted to talk. Is there anything in your life that you prioritize over your time with the Father?
6. This things is causing you to compromise on your faith, morals and values.
I.E It is causing you to do things that you normally wouldn't do and you are willingly going along with it. For example, astrology, you are identifying with an entity outside of Christ. As a Daughter of the King, your Identity is through Christ and through Christ alone. "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12. Sister, you are a Child of God, not a zodiac sign that this world defines.
I am still working to get this habit under control I have deleted all social media apps from my phone, and I will intentionally leave my phone in the other room when I'm spending time with Jesus. While i'm not cutting social media out completely, I am taking a step back from it and putting my focus on seeking the kingdom. I post what I need and go about my day. Im working on not grabbing my phone first thing in the morning or idle scrolling for hours at a time. I thank Holy Spirit for getting me through this and showing me what I needed to work on and shift my focus.
I pray this post has helped someone. I pray that you have a better understanding of what it looks like to make something other than Jesus an Idol. I do not proclaim to be a preacher or a teacher, I am just a Daughter of the King, sharing with all of my sisters what our Father has given to me. Remember that Jesus Loves you and So do I and I will see you all in the next one!
Add comment
Comments