The Lord warns us about worshiping idols. An idol is anything that you love more than God.

It’s the thing that you think about all the time and is stealing your affection for God. An idol can be a person, a material thing, yourself, money, sex, food, marriage, etc.

I have struggled with many Idols in my life and still do. God has taken me through so many trials and lessons about how He is the only one that I am to Worship.

God is a jealous God. He will not have any idols before him. Through my walk with God, He has shown me how to tear down idols and put Him back in His rightful place.

Here are three ways to tear down an idol:

1. Acknowledge, Confess, and Surrender the Idol to Jesus

The first step is to acknowledge and admit that you have an idol. Sometimes we are caught up in whatever it is that we are consumed by, that we do not realize we’ve forgotten about God. Confess and surrender the idol to the Lord.

Yes, it will be hard to do this, and we cannot do anything without the help of the Lord. Through the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord can help us surrender. So, I encourage you to pray and ask God to help you in this process. 

Recently, I was struggling with an idol. Like many women, I long to be married and in a relationship. I find myself constantly surrendering this desire to the Lord.

There was a guy that I was interested in, and he became an idol for me. I would think about him when I was at work and look at his social media. The Lord showed me that I was thinking about this man a little too much. Then, when I realized he was not even interested in me, I had to surrender and give the situation to the Lord.

Through Jesus’s help, I put God back in His rightful place. I no longer think about this guy as much, and I no longer worry about what God may have for me in that area of my life. I fully trusted and surrendered it to the Lord.

In that process, I had to get to the root of why I was idolizing marriage. It was because I did not believe that God was enough in that area of my life and that He could not satisfy me in that place, but that is not true. 

Exodus 20:3-6 “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,”

In this verse, God gave the Israelites the rules and principles for a community of life. This was in the old testament and became part of the ten commandments.

God is the creator of the universe and is worthy of our praise. He can not and will not tolerate us worshiping an idol.

We only function rightly when we put God on the throne of our hearts. 

Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

It is our responsibility to take down the idol. Yes, we can’t do this without the help of the Lord, but we have to be willing to surrender the idol.  

2. Fill your mind with Heavenly things

Remember that as you are going through this process of tearing down your idol, you still need to take your thoughts captive.

There are times when you start thinking of that idol again. It is your responsibility to set your mind on the things of God. Whatever is filling your mind the most is your idol.

So, if you want to put God in his rightful place, you have to practice getting into His presence throughout your day. Pray to God, acknowledge His presence with you every moment, read the word, share His love with others, spend your evenings maybe worshiping and listening to worship music.

Do things that are going to stir your affections for Jesus.

Sometimes we have idols in our lives because we don’t make room for Jesus. We’ve let all these tasks that we have to do, consume us. Then, we add God to it. But we’re not allowing God to become a significant part of our day, moment-by-moment. 

That man that I was interested in; worked at my job. So, it would be hard at times when I would see him. I had to control my emotions. Whenever I had thoughts about us going on a date, I had to take my thoughts captive and continue to surrender the idol to God. 

Colossians 3:1-3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

As children of God, We are secure in the Lord as we trust Him. Our primary focus should be on growing in knowing the Lord and living with him and for him. We are not to be consumed by earthly things or material things.

3. Put Jesus in His Rightful Place: The One and Only True God

The last point is to remember that the idols will not satisfy you in your soul. No matter how much or what you try, oh, you will end up empty. We are to put our hope in eternal things- like Jesus.  

Even if I got into a relationship with this man at my job, I would still feel empty without the Lord in His proper place. Only God can truly satisfy me in my soul. I would probably be devastated because I would have assumed I should be happy now. But my joy does not come from another human; it comes from the Lord. 

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

God will keep you and satisfy that thirst you have deep down inside. He is Eternal life and the only true God.

Give Jesus everything this season, and pray for God to help you.

Treasure Jesus in your heart and pray that He will help you to be in awe of Him.