War of Words - Chapter 4 - What Has Idol Potential In My Life?

Chapter 4 - Idol Words

"Whatever controls our hearts, controls our words." ~The War of Words, Idol Words



" What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God." ~James 4:1-2

Chapter Four, Idols Words is about idols of the heart, or spiritual adultery. Spiritual adultery happens whenever we give our hearts (which belong to God), to someone or something else and worship that person or thing.

We learn that idols of the heart stem from desire. Mr. Tripp points out that the desires of our heart can often turn into idol worshiping if we're not careful. He related a story of how he wanted to spend time with his wife and throughout the course of a day, this healthy and good desire developed a life of it's own and turned into an idol that spawned selfish thoughts, and consequently, selfish words which ended up discouraging Mrs. Tripp and causing an argument. Mr. Tripp's good desire for quality time with his wife had taken control of his heart.

It struck me that if this kind of idolatry could metastasize, spreading into other areas of life - like a cancer. Then I began to ponder other healthy desires and how they might become manipulated by the enemy. A healthy marriage? Well behaved children? A larger family? A larger home? A better job/income? All of these things are good things, but elevated to "demand," level they become micro-gods.

A desire battles for control until it becomes a demand. The demand is then expressed (and usually experienced as a need. ("I need sex." "I need respect.") My sense of need sets up my expectation. Expectation when unfulfilled leads to disappointment. Disappointment leads to some kind of punishment." ~The War of Words, Idol Words

"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen" ~Romans 1:25

Ask Yourself:  What are my desires? What has idol potential in my life? What are the recurring themes in my relationships?

Lord Jesus, show us any potential or hidden idols.  Shine Your light on us and set us free to worship You alone.

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." ~James 4: 7-10

The verbs in this passage give us much to do in getting on the right track.

(submit, resist, come near to God, wash, purify, grieve, mourn, wail, change, humble yourselves)

Do you still need the book?  You can get it here:War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Resources for Changing Lives)

Grateful for Grace,

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