This post is written by Allyson M. Howell and is published as a companion to Unit 13, Session 5 of The Gospel Project for Adults Vol. 5 (Fall 2022): From Rebellion to Exile.
The human heart is desperate for something to hold on to.
We long for attention and admiration from those that we love. We long for comfort and stability in our finances. We long for people to recognize us as respectful or worthy of respect. We want our achievements to stand the test of time and leave a legacy for others to see. There is no end to the desires of the human heart. Many of these desires are good and pure and holy and righteous. But the dividing line between our desires being used for good and our desires being used for self is distinct.
Twisted Desires
It is so easy for us to see a good thing, have a good desire for it, but to seek after it in a wicked way. For example, we might long for financial security for our family because we love them and want to care for them. We could long to have decent savings and money to send our kids to college. We may even work hard to get better paying jobs that provide for our family. But the temptation to cut corners or to use the money for selfish reasons is strong. What started out as a good desire gets twisted until the desire is motivated by sin and not love.
How then can we combat such raging desires within us? How do we keep our ways pure and live according to God’s Word without making a trail full of idols to ourselves along the way?
It can feel hopeless when our hearts so easily deceive us. We can feel overwhelmed by our failures and our ability to turn things upside down. Sin is crouching at our doorsteps and it is ready to overcome us and make us turn our eyes away from the one true God.
Prepared for Battle
We must have weapons ready to use against this battle. We must rely heavily on the Holy Spirit to guide us, correct us, sustain us, comfort us, and lead us to the throne of God. We must also be equipped with God’s Word. We must know what it says and know what God has done for us. God has given us the church as a community of comrades ready to take on any battle with us. We can look to our brothers and sisters to link arms and step forward to battle idolatry. We have everything we could ever need to overcome sin and evil and to trust that God will see us through.
The voiceless, sightless, brainless created things called idols can do nothing for us. It is only through relying on the living God, the One who created all things, the One who put His name on our hearts and called us His own, that we can smash the idols in our hearts and look only to Him.
We have nothing to fear because He loves us. His love for us is deeper and stronger than our love or our desire for anything else. God is able to give us what we need to love Him, and He is our hope amidst the daily battle against sin. Jesus’s blood on the cross is our access to a life of abundant bliss in the arms of our Savior.
Allyson M. Howell is an event planner and content creator for The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. She holds an MDiv from Midwestern Seminary. Allyson is a member and the deacon of Women’s Ministry at Wornall Road Baptist Church and lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, Randy.
