Not Idolizing Things Actually Helps Me Enjoy Them More
In the first and second of the ten commandments, God tells humanity not to idolize anything.
I don’t think the reason why God established this commandment was because he was on a power trip—I think the reason why he established it is because it’s actually beneficial for the people who follow it.
I idolize things more often than I realize
Idolizing things just means that I love that thing more than I love God.
It’s easy to think that I’m not idolizing anything, even when my behaviors might indicate otherwise:
If I idolize a video game, then I skip my time with God and spend my time playing that video game. If I idolize a person, I will value what they think more than what God thinks. If I idolize my bank account, then I will hoard all my money for myself instead of following God’s commands and giving to people in need. If I idolize my career, then I’ll put more effort into that than I do with my relationship with God.
I think I idolize things a lot more than I even realize.
Idolizing things only leads to disappointment
Idolizing things only leads to disappointment. Here are a couple ways that can happen:
Unmet Expectations: If I ascribe ultimate worth to something that isn’t actually of ultimate worth, then my expectations are too high to be met, and that will only result in disappointment. For example, if I idolize a new phone and then finally get it, I realize that it isn’t as good as I had thought it would be. My expectations were unrealistically high, and that results in disappointment.
Idols are temporary: If I ascribe ultimate worth to something that is temporary, then I’ll only be disappointed when that thing inevitably breaks, gets lost, or deteriorates. For example, if I make a relationship more of a priority than God, then when that relationship ends, I won’t have anything left to hang on to.
Prioritizing God allows me to enjoy everything else even more deeply
On the flip side, when I live with God as the most valuable thing in my life, then that sets me up to enjoy everything else even more fully. If I value a non-ultimate thing as the “ultimate thing,” then I’ll only be disappointed… but when I value it accurately, that actually opens the door for me to enjoy it to its fullest potential.
Once God is my “ultimate thing,” then I can start viewing everything else as the added bonuses that they really are. When God is first, then I can accurately view my bank account as the tool that he gave me to help people. When God is first, then I can accurately view my relationships as temporary gifts for me to enjoy while I have them. When God is first, then I can accurately view my career as a blessing from God I can use to serve others.
Ironically, if I want to enjoy something to the fullest, I need to stop prioritizing it so much and re-establish God as my ultimate priority.
And the benefit of de-idolizing is twofold: not only does it help me enjoy God’s gifts more deeply, but it also helps me enjoy God himself more deeply.