Last week Matt preached an incredibly challenging and inspiring message entitled “My Plus One is Different From Me”. If you haven’t heard it, I’d suggest that you give it a listen.

And if you have heard it, just listen again - it’s great!

Although I paid close attention to the message in both the morning and evening gatherings, God challenged me through a thought based on a small comment that Matt made at some point. The thought was:

"What are your idols?"

I can’t recall how this thought crossed my mind, but it did. I spent some time thinking about it and realised that I have a few, but there’s one idol that moulds my thoughts and actions more than most. And that idol is something that surprised me:

Marriage

How can marriage be an idol? Well, it’s quite simple. I spend a lot of time thinking about and desiring to get married. It consumes a lot of my energy and it has shaped the way I live my life. It even affects how I spend my time, who I spend time with, the way I look at others and some of the other decisions that I make. Here are some examples:

  * I spend time thinking about what I'd like in a wife. "What will she be like?"
  * Every time I meet a new girl, I immediately start evaluating if she matches up to my requirements. "Could she be the one?"
  * Many decisions are made with my marriage in mind. "How will this affect my marriage one day?"

I think that it would be better if God took that place in my life, if my thoughts went more along the lines of:

  * "What is God like and what does He like?"
  * "He is The One, so how do I make Him happy?"
  * "How will this affect eternity?"

So I’m planning on being a little more conscious of what I let occupy my thoughts and how I make decisions. I’m trying to make God the centre of those thoughts and decisions. It’s going to be hard work, but I have no doubt that it’ll be worth it.

But now I challenge you - what are your idols? What consumes your thoughts and moulds your decisions? If you’re comfortable, share them below and let’s discuss them and help one another out with this.

</UniekLee>