Who’s Your Idol?

By:  Donna Martin 

When you think of an idol, what comes to mind - a famous athlete, a talented musician, your dad, a golden statue.  The definition of an idol has two meanings.  One is “someone that you admire very much.”  The other meaning is “a picture or statue that is worshipped as a god.”  It is not bad to look up to someone and to admire someone.  It is good for us to have role models.  However, it is not good to be so absorbed with something or someone that we begin to worship them as if they were God.

Without realizing it people often worship such things as their jobs, children, houses, cars, spouses.  In fact anything can become an idol if we allow it to take the place of God.  Worshipping someone or something other than God can affect our relationship with our spouse and our family. In his book, What Did You Expect, Paul David Tripp explains how changing our focus of worship back to God can help us improve our relationship with our spouse.

He explains that in our marriage we should worship God as Creator, Sovereign and Savior.  Each day have a quiet time alone with God.  During this time of worshipping God, read the Bible and pray.  Worship God as the creator of your spouse by thanking God for the unique and good qualities that he created in your spouse.    Worship God as Sovereign by thanking God for the way he brought you and your spouse together, for the experiences that you have shared, and the things that he has brought you and your spouse through.  Ask God to guide you and your spouse through each day.  Worship God as Savior by thanking Him for forgiving you and asking him to help you offer forgiveness, love and grace to your spouse. 

In Exodus 20:12 God said, “You shall have no other God’s before me.”  For a marriage to be what God intended it to be, God must be at the center.  He is the glue that holds marriages together.  He is the guide that leads you in the right direction.

The Martins currently present “Happy Together” Marriage Enrichment Events for churches and organizations.  To schedule an event call Michael at 940-735-1515. They are certified “Prepare/Enrich” Facilitators and are available to work with couples on an individual basis using the “Prepare/Enrich Assessment.”  They publish a weekly “Happy Together” Blog about family and marriage issues.  You can order copies of their new books Dancing With Death and 366 Tidbits We Have Learned in 14,610 Days of Marriage, read, and subscribe to their “Happy Together” Blog by logging onto the Martin’s website at www.happytogethermarriage.com.