Something to think about: 'No' to old idols

Tullian Tchividjian of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., writes in the book Jesus + Nothing = Everything about God’s work in his life during an especially difficult time he experienced shortly after becoming senior pastor of the church:

. . . Worn out, afraid, and angry, I insisted that God give me my old life back. The gentle but straightforward answer from God that I received from the pages of Colossians that morning was simple but sobering: "It’s not your old life you want back; it’s your old idols you want back, and I love you too much to give them back to you."

I was being challenged by God to more fully understand exactly what I already had in Christ. For far longer than I recognized, I had been depending on the endorsement of others to validate me – to make me feel that I mattered.

God began rescuing me from that slavery by forcing me to rediscover the gospel.

I was learning the hard way that the gospel alone can free us from our addiction to being liked – that Jesus measured up for us so that we wouldn’t have to live under the enslaving pressure of measuring up for others.