Three years ago, God reminded me of a truth that’s still working to transform me: we become what we worship. Our minds, our affections, and our very character begin to take on the shape of whatever holds our deepest devotion. The Psalmist wrote:
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth. Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?” But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; noses they have, but they do not smell; they have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them. (Psalm 115:1-8)
Read that last line again: “Those who make them are like them.”
That sentence used to seem abstract to me until I started noticing it play out in my own life. Idols that cannot see, cannot hear, cannot speak, and cannot act—those who worship them become dull in those same ways. Blind. Deaf. Mute. Paralyzed. Whatever we fix our gaze on, we start to resemble.
Let me make this practical because I don’t want you to miss this like I did for many years!
If money is what we worship, we will find ourselves working eighty-hour weeks; then slowly we are shaped by greed rather than by God. Our conversations are all about it. Our peace depends on it. We become anxious, calculating, and never satisfied—dull to everything that isn’t related. Or consider a relationship. Say a couple longed for years to have a child, prayed and waited and grieved through infertility, and finally God gave them a baby. It would be so easy, so understandable, for that child to become the center of their worship instead of simply a gift from God. And if that happens, losing that child, or even the ordinary disappointments of parenting, would crush them because their identity and their joy had been staked entirely on something God only intended to be loved—not worshiped. Or think of achievement itself—the attorney, the athlete, the student who ties their whole sense of worth to winning. Losing one case, one competition, or one grade suddenly feels like losing themselves, because the pursuit of success has become their god.
But here is the beautiful truth: Worship of GOD—never destroys us.
Why not? Because worship of God is the very thing that makes us into everything we were created to be. Money will fail us. People we love, however dearly, cannot bear the weight of being our god. Success always demands one more win. But God does not ask us to worship Him so He can take anything from us—He asks us to worship Him because He alone can hold the weight of our devotion without breaking.
When we are born again, we are given the capacity to be like Jesus—to have His mind and His attitudes. The more our minds are captivated by Him, the more we begin to think as He thinks. He is never dull-minded or anxious.
When I see myself drifting into anxiety or a dull fog, I know the deal. The wrong god is occupying my zeal. What is consuming my thoughts—a case I am afraid to lose; a bill I am not sure how to pay; or a relationship I long to see restored—has become my center. Worship is simple—it’s what we think about most. It’s what we love.
If what we love most is something besides God—it will fail us and—we will never become all God wants us to be.
God never fails.
Jesus didn’t make our instructions complicated:
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)
To love God is to arrange our whole life—heart, soul, and mind—around Him. And when we do, something remarkable happens. Our senses sharpen, and we become alert to what truly matters. We taste the richness of the life He designed us to live, a soul-richness no amount of money, comfort, or accomplishment could ever manufacture. The Psalms describe this kind of life beautifully:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3)
That is the harvest of worshiping God—rootedness, fruitfulness, and a leaf that does not wither even when the season is a desert. So today, I want to ask you, in the same way God asked me: What are you becoming? God did not create you to be dull, dependent on a paycheck, or crushed by loss. He created you for so much more.
Become the best version of you by keeping God at the center of what you love most!
Prayer:
Lord, I confess that my thoughts drift toward things that can never truly satisfy me. Forgive me for the times I have let worry, ambition, or comfort become my center. Teach my mind to be captivated by You. Sharpen my senses to Your presence today, and let my life reflect You as my greatest love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
