Idol?

a greatly loved or admired person.

a picture or object that is worshipped as a god.
anything that replaces the one, true God.
Idolatry?
the worship of idols or excessive devotion
to, or reverence for some person or thing.

The ten plagues God brought on
the Egyptians were judgments
against specific gods they
worshipped and showed that the
Lord was greater than all of them.
2 I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 You shall have no other gods before or besides Me.
4 You shall not make yourself any graven image [to
worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the
heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth;
5 You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them;
for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and
fourth generation of those who hate Me,
6 But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand
generations of those who love Me and keep My
commandments.
Deuteronomy 32:16-17 (AMP)
16 They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods,
with abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to Godto gods
whom they knew not, to new gods lately come up,
whom your fathers never knew or feared.
Leviticus 17:7 (AMP)
7 So they shall no more offer their sacrifices to
goatlike gods or demons or field spirits after which
they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute
forever to them throughout their generations.
Matthew 4:9 (AMP)
9 And he said to Him, These things, all taken
together, I will give You, if You will prostrate Yourself
before me and do homage and worship me.
1 Timothy 4:1 (AMP)
4 But the [Holy] Spirit distinctly and expressly
declares that in latter times some will turn away from
the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing
spirits and doctrines that demons teach,..
1 Corinthians 8:4 (AMP)
4 In this matter, then, of eating food offered to idols,
we know that an idol is nothing (has no real
existence) and that there is no God but one.
Demons and their deceit have no true power over
us. Any power they wield pales in comparison with
the power of Christ.
Mark 16:17 (AMP)

17
And these attesting signs will accompany those who
believe: in My name they will drive out demons;
they will speak in new languages;

All the various forms of idolatry have one thing at
their core: self. We may no longer bow down to idols
and images. Instead we worship at the alter of the god
of self.
Materialism: preoccupation with or emphasis on
material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a
disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or
cultural values.
This insatiable desire for more, better, and newer
stuff is nothing more than covetousness.
Pride and Ego: Often takes the form of obsession with careers
and jobs. Millions of men and women spend 60-80 hours a
week working.
We fool ourselves into thinking we are doing it for our
children, to give them a better life. But the truth is we are
doing it for ourselves, to increase our self-esteem by appearing
more successful in the eyes of the world.
Ecclesiastes 2:21-23 NIV)
21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill,
and then they must leave all they own to another who has not
toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22
What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with
which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is
grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is
meaningless.
Idolizing Mankind: This is through naturalism and
the power of science.
This gives us the illusion that we are lords of our
world and builds our self-esteem to godlike
proportions. We reject Gods Word and His
description of how He created heavens and the earth,
and we accept the nonsense of evolution and
naturalism.
Self-Centered: Putting our needs and desires before
anyone else whether it be God or people.

All Idolatry of self has at its core the three
lusts found in 1 John 2:16 (AMP):
16 For all that is in the worldthe lust of the
flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and
the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the
mind] and the pride of life [assurance in ones
own resources or in the stability of earthly
things]these do not come from the Father
but are from the world [itself ].

The Greatest Commandment:
Matthew 22:37 (AMP):
37 And He replied to him, You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind (intellect).
When we love the Lord and others with
everything that is in us, there will be no room
in our hearts for idolatry.