Friday Fight 60 - Idolize to Demonize

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF60.

All of us have endured something hurtful and struggled with life-changing circumstances. Yet, what do we do when our struggles become too great? How often have we reluctantly surrendered to something or given into sin to help us cope?

Idolize to Demonize:

When we think of idolatry, we tend to imagine the Old Testament and worshiping false gods. Think about the things we elevate in our lives, even things we do in secret. Suppose we depend on alcohol to take the edge off; what happens when our alcohol tolerance rises, and it takes more alcohol to reach that same state of relaxation? Suppose you're a gambler, and the desire to win increases over time; more money is wasted. Compromising to sin affects our ability to think clearly, and a habit becomes a crutch.

Once we comprise, the sin is elevated and becomes an idol. Our compromises come in between God and us. What we idolize we will eventually demonize, meaning it will become a constant, an uncontrolled presence that we resent and worship. Shame is attached, as always, when we compromise to sin in secret. Perhaps we need to change our perspective on what it means to compromise, which later leads to idolizing and finally demonizing. We never have to get to this place if we hold our ground and do not compromise to sin. After an amazing sermon preached by Robert Hilson, I was able to better understand and identify areas in which I compromise to sin.

How does darkness work? When we first begin to compromise to sin, the first lie we will hear is that God won't mind our little sin. Then, over time as our compromise to corruption leads to idolizing this sin, the same lie grows, leading us to believe that God doesn't care. But he does care, and sin hurts Him deeply. Satan lies and tells us we can compromise to sin and remain close to Christ.

Pray about what compromise is at the center of who we are? What do we elevate in our lives in the face of conflict? Take time to self-reflect and think about where our compromises could lead. Let's not avoid God's presence and lean on Him when the desire to compromise becomes more significant than we can stand.

Hebrews 11:25

Pastor Shannon

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Photo Credit: Abigail Tarburton