Imperfect Gods

Maybe I backtracked, lost myself and my direction
and in the last act, I disappeared for my protection
In reality it's my words and not my silence that will protect me
and it's been a long time...I shouldn't have left me

I heard a pretty amazing sermon in church this morning that really hit close to home. My church, Discovery, typically runs with a theme for several weeks or more, often times tying scripture into the reality of our modern lives. The theme that started last week is called 'Gods at War' and the concept is that we place such importance on things in our lives, things that may not necessarily be inherently 'bad', that we in essence make gods of them, pushing God Himself aside in the process. We make gods of pleasure, of sports, of social media, of hobbies, of jobs, of relationships...anything that becomes so overwhelmingly important in our lives that we grant it power over ourselves at the expense of a greater truth.

I don't write this to push any agenda, religious or otherwise. Even if you disregard the spiritual nature of the sermon there is a life lesson in this, one that I can relate to. Painfully. When we place such importance on anything, even something seemingly harmless or even good, we are making it a god over us. Giving it the ability to affect our happiness and even our lives. Believing that without it we can never be satisfied, never be satiated, never live a fulfilled life. I don't even write this to try to educate as my own lack of wise decision making in regards to this borders on embarrassing.

I've done this to myself. In the past. In the present. Repeatedly. Made certain things in my life so overwhelmingly important that I felt incomplete without them. Depriving myself of the ability to feel whole or unequivocally happy. And in placing such importance on something we also place a tremendous amount of pressure on it. Pressure to continuously provide the pleasure or comfort we derive from it. Pressure to be there when we need it. Pressure to live up to expectations. Essentially we're asking for perfection, at least from our perspective. And that's something only God can deliver, not false idols or the imperfect gods we create.

I want to better myself in this aspect. I want to prioritize my life in a manner befitting a good man. I want to dethrone the false gods I've created for myself. There's no sweeping proclamations or changed behavior here, I know my weaknesses better than anyone and recognize that I'll have to fight my instinctive behaviors. My goal is to use my time, attention and actions on those things which make me better. To enjoy the worthwhile pleasures I find in life without letting them rule over me. I wish the same for all of you, to live your life without worshipping imperfect gods. Much love, everybody.