Walking In The Spirit Lesson (4.5)

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:20 AV

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

1 Samuel 15:23 (AV)

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

The recipe for Idolatry

The Holy Bible: King James Version (Chapter 15)

stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry

Colossians 3:5 AMP

5 So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God).

Colossians 3:5 TPT

5 Live as one who has died to every form of sexual sin and impurity. Live as one who died to diseases, and desires for forbidden things, including the desire for wealth, which is the essence of idol worship.

Colossians 3:5 AV

5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Amplified Bible (Chapter 3)

greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry

The Practical Encyclopedia of Christian Counseling (Idolatry)

IDOLATRY It is important to recognize that one does not have to bow down to a physical image in order to be an idolater. Paul makes this clear in Colossians 3:5 when he speaks of “greed (which is idolatry).”

Anything that takes the place of God in one’s life is an idol.

Idolatry is often accompanied by envy (q.v.) and jealousy (q.v.). & Stubbornness

A. What Is Envy?

• Envy is resenting the advantage of another, with a desire to possess the same advantage.

• Envy is coveting what another has.

• The Latin word for “envy” is invidere, which means “to look at with enmity.”

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

(Exodus 20:17)

Biblical Counseling Keys on Envy & Jealousy

(B. What is Jealousy?)

Jealousy is resenting another’s rivalry or unfaithfulness, with a desire to guard or maintain what one possesses.

Jealousy is possessiveness.

The Greek word for “jealousy” is zeloo, which means “zealous or burning with jealousy.”

“When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. As they danced, they sang: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.’ Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. ‘They have credited David with tens of thousands,’ he thought, ‘but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?’ And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.”(1 Samuel 18:6–9)

Stubbornness: Stiff necked, Hard hearted, cantankerousness, orneriness

Deuteronomy 9:27 AMP

27 Remember [earnestly] Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or at their sin,

Whats The Purpose Of Idolatry?

To Worship or give precedence to anything other than God

WHAT IS MODERN DAY IDOLATRY?

Idolatry seems like a pretty simple concept in the Bible, right?

Don’t bow down to golden statues? Check!

Don’t worship false gods at their altars? Check!

But believe it or not, idolatry is still alive and well!

And it’s so well disguised that we often don’t even realize we’re participating in it.

So what does modern day idolatry look like?

I love the way John Piper worded it, “It starts in the heart: craving, wanting, enjoying, being satisfied by anything that you treasure more than God. That is an idol. Paul calls this covetousness — a disordered love or desire, loving more than God what ought to be loved less than God.”

Identifying our own idols can be tricky, but there are a few questions that can help get the ball rolling:

Do I love or treasure anything or anyone more than God?

Do I prioritize anything or anyone before God?

Does anything bring me more pleasure than the things of God?

Do I place my identity in anything over my status as a child of God?

Do I look to anything or anyone to meet my needs instead of God?

Do I seek fulfillment or satisfaction from anything outside of God?

Do I seek comfort outside of God?

Here are some of the most common modern day idols

Money.

Having money, even being incredibly wealthy, is not the same as holding it up as an idol. First Timothy 6:10 clarifies, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (NIV).

Do I love money? Do I trust money to meet my needs more than I trust God? Am I drawing a sense of stability from God, or from a fat savings account?

Nice things.

Do I love the things money can buy more than I love God? Do they bring me more joy than the things of the Lord?

Careers.

It’s no crime to work your way up the ladder, become one of the best in your field, absolutely love what you do for a living, or even take pride in your work. In fact,

Proverbs 16:3 instructs us, “Commit your work to the Lord, and He will establish your plans.” But we have to ask ourselves, does my career bring me more satisfaction than my relationship with God?

Do I identity more as a #bagchaser than a child of God? Do I trust my employer to provide for my needs, more than I trust God?

Weight and appearance.

Of course, we want to treat our bodies well. They’re the temple of God. But it is so easy to place special diets, cross fit classes, Fitbit readings, or the number on the scale, front and center in our lives. First Timothy 4:8 reminds us, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

We should eat well and exercise, but we can’t allow reaching our goal weight to distract us from our true purpose on Earth, helping others to know and follow Jesus!

Hobbies.

It’s so easy to find an identity within our hobbies.

I love movies. I love technology. I love cars, loove food (I’m a foodie)… None of these activities are good or bad. It boils down to how we hold them in our hearts. Just like a career, do I identify more as a movie freak, or as a believer? Do I look forward to getting my next gadget, more than I look forward to spending time with God? Maybe the toughest question of all, do I invest time and energy into my hobby, that I should be investing into time with God? Should i read do I read my bible as much as i watch netflick

Romanace

Whether it’s your spouse, someone you’re dating, or that handsome coworker, seeking satisfaction in our significant other not only sets them up as an idol, but also sets them up for failure. Why? Because God created humans so that the only one that can truly complete us and bring us a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction is God.

Children.

When a life is completely dependent on us for survival, it’s easy to forget that being a parent is not, in fact, our entire identity. It can feel like it, especially when our children are small, but it’s not. Our identity must always be found in God, and in his calling on our hearts. It’s also very easy to treasure our children more than we treasure the Lord, or seek to please them more than we seek to please God. Of course our children are precious to us. They’re precious to God, too! In fact, God loves them even more than we do. But we cannot allow our children to take God’s place in our hearts.

Friendships and family relationships.

We love connecting with our friends and family, spending time together, planning dinners and game nights, and leaning on one another for everything, from acting as our workout partners to patiently listening while we vent. But we have to ask ourselves, am I seeking fulfillment from this relationship? Am I looking to them for things that I’m supposed to be drawing from God? As a Christian speaker once said, am I going to the phone first with my problems? Or to the throne of God?

WRAP IT UP

Modern day idolatry is alive and well. Anything that you love, treasure, prioritize, identify with, or look to for need fulfillment outside of God, can be acting as an idol in your heart and life.

Once we’re able to properly identify modern day idolatry, we can ask ourselves what needs we’re meeting with those idols, and then bring those needs to God for true fulfillment and satisfaction. After all,

Psalm 37:4 (ESV) promises us, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

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