2 Lives: Who’s Your Hero?

 What is Idolatry?
o The worship of an idol or of a deity represented by an idol, usually as an image.
 What is an Idol?
o Anything that is worshiped/anything esteemed higher that God.
 Idols can be manmade images or structures.
 Idols can be anything put before God (a relationship, music, sports, and even
school).
 Forms of Idolatry.
o Worshiping a manmade image (statue, picture, painting, etc.).
 Even venerating them is idolatry (using them to worship God)(Isaiah 42:8)
o Covetousness, wanting something so bad, you forget about God. (a comic book,
trading card, a car, or relationship with someone).
 God comes first; we should thirst for God more than anything.
o Worrying about our needs. (Matt. 6:33)
 If we worry, we rely on someone other than God or ourselves. If we rely on
others or ourselves, we make them or us higher than God: Idolatry.
o Worshiping a person (ex: music artists, TV stars, Government officials, etc.)
 Worshiping someone by spending all time with them (friend, boyfriend,
girlfriend…)
 Worshiping a “star” (going to all their concerts, always listening to their
music, spending countless hours watching their TV show).
 You can worship someone by disliking them. (ex: disliking a government
official to the point that you spend all your time bashing them. Or spending all
your time thinking about how to get someone back). If you give your whole
attention to someone or something other than God, even if it is angry
attention, you are prioritizing it higher than God and making that anger your
idol.
 Worshiping
o Many times when we worship, we pay more attention to details.
 We admire the worship leader
 We admire the accompanying music
 We pick out the mistakes
 Ways to find what you put before God and how to fix it.
o Evaluation: ask others what they see you spend time doing.
o Rid the habit: slowly wean off or completely cut-off the idol. Remind yourself daily
what needs to come first.
o Keep accountable: have someone close keep you accountable.

Jesus offers you salvation. He must be the Lord of your life. Surrender to him and rid yourself of all the
other things that get in the way of your relationship with Christ.