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Ugh… I Just Can’t Just Can’t Stop…

I Just Can’t Just Can’t Stop… 9205350

Why do we do the things that we don’t want to do? Why do I do things I don’t want to do? The scriptures hit it. Paul said, “The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin” (Rom. 7:14) That’s a dreadful reality. I AM a slave to sin. I serve a different God than Yahweh on his throne when I can’t give up my immorality and the transgressions of my heart for him.

“False gods are warring for the throne of your heart.” -Kyle Idleman

“Man’s mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that the will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain.” -John Calvin

My husband has been preaching a series of lessons inspired by Kyle Idleman’s book God’s at War so I have been wrestling with this for a few weeks. The point- Every sin. Every issue. Every habit we excuse comes down to idolatry. We are simply serving a different god.

God knew this would be an issue for us. The first five books of the bible command against idolatry some fifty times. The whole bible warns against it one THOUSAND times. Idolatry is as old as man. It is as current as the moment.

So what’s your sin? Dig behind it. What’s your god?

I have grappled with this in my own heart and mind. God has revealed to me I get my fix off of resentment. I feel entitled to be respected. I feel like I have a right to be understood. I desire other people’s compassion. At the heart of it, I want to be loved. When I don’t get it, I resent. I harbor ill will. I am slow to forgive. I brew justification for it in my head. My justification: I don’t trust people. When they let me down or hurt me I have my pre-ordered excuse in place. I can lock you out and throw away the key.

So what’s my god? The god I am worshiping is me. Ugh… that is hard to admit, even harder to say. I worship me. And I don’t want to.

As I sit here mulling that over in my head I could really get stuck on that and sit there… for a while. But that’s just not where God wants me to stay. He wants me to go beyond identifying my idol. He wants me to tear it down. Where do I begin?

Well, I so grateful and humbled that Paul finishes his thoughts in Romans 7 with a hope-filled solution. “Thank God! The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Today I am going to starting tearing down the altars I have built to myself. Brick by brick I am going to begin to removing the stones I have erected to honor the god of me. In their place I will exalt Jesus Christ and  put him in the rightful place of the throne of my heart.

 

Jul 18, 2013Serena
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Comments: 4
  1. Amber
    12 years ago

    I find it extremely difficult to deal with unjust criticism when I am trying hard to follow God’s path for my life. I want to be understood, to get my point across, to have the other person acknowledge my superior logic. It is hard, especially when the extent of my logic is, “I’m trusting God.” People don’t buy it, and I can’t convince them. But I am really working on being gracious, accepting the intent behind the criticism and ignoring the injustice of it all. I don’t want to worship my own intellect, because I have been wrong many many times, and I can be wrong again.

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    • Serena
      12 years ago

      Amen. Been there.

      ReplyCancel
  2. Joan
    12 years ago

    Powerful, thank you

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  3. Jason
    12 years ago

    God Bless you, Serena. You routinely post articles that hit home for me. I have long known that my idol is my own pleasure. I gratify this idol by refusing to deny those things which I do not need and which bring me mental and spiritual harm and shame.
    As it may be with you, it is a daily fight to take this altar down, brick by brick, and vow not to again kneel before it in shameful obeisance. Thank you for repeatedly stepping on my toes and pricking my heart. I continue to read your articles because you continue to convict my spirit and renew my desire to serve The Living God.

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Serena
12 years ago 4 Comments Addiction, Christian Life, Idolatry264
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