~ Idolatry ~

That is not a word we come across too often as Christian mamas in our day to day lives. When you hear the word idolatry the first things that might come to mind are golden calves, and fake gods.
Is it possible that there are other idols that we might be missing?

We bought our 3 yr. old a DVD for his birthday done by "Life on the pond" The story was about a frog and his new job. He had become so obsessed with his occupation that it began to rule his every thought and his entire life. The whole moral of the tale was being aware of idolatry.

I started thinking about idols in my own life. Things that have the ability to sway me from where my primary focus should be. What do I think about the most? Where are my thoughts continuously being drawn too? Is HE always first?

There are so many things that can capture our hearts as women...work, a business, perfect children, a hobby, an immaculate house, the desire to be THE proverbs.31 woman, homeschooling, a cause, our ministry. None of these things are wrong but we need to ask ourselves these questions~
Is God leading in it?
Is He in the middle of it or not?
Are our thoughts continually drawn to Him?
Is He really FIRST?

As Godly women we can't just talk the talk.
Matthew 15:8~ "These people honor me with their lips, but their HEART IS FAR FROM ME."
We should love the Lord our God with all our HEART with all our MIND and with all our SOUL!

In the past when my 3 oldest were little and my house seemed to always be a mess I struggled with wanting to have the perfect looking house always clean and beautiful. (Idol) I would tell God when that happens THEN I will practice hospitality. I wanted to have the time and money to make fancy meals and serve it on nice fancy dishware and entertain like Martha Stewart. (Idol)

God showed me that it didn't matter what my house looked like, it mattered what my heart held.
I needed to step out of my self focus and look at HIM. We started to invite people over and not care that none of my dishes matched that my home was less than stellar. People would drop by and shove the clean laundry piled on the couch over so they could sit down, we would sit among the school books, playdough and toys . None of that mattered because encouraging one another became more important.

When I look back I have been guilty of making my children idols, my marriage an idol.
In becoming so obsessed with the process of raising great children I missed the mark. I forgot Gods heart.
I have put so much pressure on my husband in the past to fill all of my needs completely forgetting that there is only ONE who can truly be our everything.

We should all be passionate about our God given gifts, our marriages, our children, and our homes, but ABOVE ALL be passionate about your Saviour!