We all are trying to worship God but we end up worshipping other things all the time.  But like a lot of things in life, things just naturally happen and we don’t necessarily realize what we’re doing is wrong.  Like spreading the flu or having body odor, or listening to smooth jazz.

(This is a going into more depth of what was talked about in the previous devotional.)

So what’s a good way to figure out what we really worship? To do this we can ask ourselves the question, “What upsets you?” Really what we’re trying to look at is to find out what you really value.  What you really care about.  

Now there’s some legitimate stuff that upsets us, like injustice, but some not so much. Somethings have little value – so no one gets upset if someone steals their trash, kills a cockroach or breaks your Star Wars Prequel DVDs.

However we do get upset if someone steals a lot of money from us, or insults us or if we lose our job. How should we respond to those things?  We should have faith (Rom 8:28).  We should “Count it all joy” (James 1:2). But instead we get upset.  It’s because instead of worshipping God (thanks and praise) for what he is doing because of the situation, we are worshipping something else.

If we get upset that we lost money due to theft, loss of job, car getting destroyed – instead of showing faith, we show that money is what we indeed worshipped. If we get upset when someone insults us or disagrees with us – instead of showing forgiveness or understanding, we show that our pride is what we worship.

When someone says something you disagree with your politics or sports views, do you care?  Or do you need to prove your own thoughts right? I’ve really only talked about two of the major things that cause us to get upset, money and pride.  It’s because those are the two things we often worship most, money and self.

So what do we do?

For money, we can just always try to remember Romans 8:28 and James 1:5 and have faith in God’s plan.  “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21). Remember, God’s goal isn’t for you to have more money, but more faith… to be more sanctified, more Christ-like.

And for pride…try doing this – allow someone to disagree with you about something not vital. Just let it slide. (I’m not talking about if someone wants to put a kitten into a blender, you just sit and allow them to do it. I’m talking about disagreeing over your opinion).

God wants us to love others… not to prove them wrong. So instead of proving your view to be right, think above that, think about your relationship with that person.  Does what you say improve or hurt your relationship with them? Then you are not worried about your pride.  You are concerned with the things of God – which will be worshipping Him. Give it a shot.  That is one way you can try to turn the worship of self into worship of God. And who knows?

By not worrying about your pride but your relationship with them, maybe they’ll open up to your opinion and you can finally tell them that it’s a sin to listen to smooth jazz.

Today’s Passage:

PR 13:10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Take time to pray: Ask God for humility so as not to worship self, but rather Him. Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Love. The love of God, not of self or money. Today’s Quiz: Fill in the blank.  For the love of _______ is a root of all kinds of evil. A. The New England Patriots B.  Applebee’s C. money