"Find your greatest joy in thinking about God, meditating on His works, talking to others about Him, praising Him and giving Him thanks." To do so, according to this author, would allow me to replace idol worship with the worship of God.
Instead of focusing on an idol, I need to focus my energy and attention on God. But what are my idols? I have thought quite a bit about it lately and think my idol is a desire for order & organization. I may have other idols, but this seems to be the one that God has laid on my heart recently. Of course having an orderly and organized home is a good quality, but I am a bit concerned that my desire for that order has gone too far.
I frequently think "If only everything were picked up and in its place, then I could relax and be happy." The vast majority of the arguments my husband and I get into center around housekeeping. The most common source of frustration in my life is the chaos in my house. Therefore, I am beginning to wonder if this desire of mine has moved beyond a healthy goal and has become an idol.
In order to reduce my frustration levels and the conflict in my home, I want to return my desire for a clean home back in its place. It is a good thing, but I need to worship God and direct my attention towards Him. How can I tell when my desire has gone too far? I can try to stop as soon as I want to start and argument with my husband over a messy room. I am not sure if I have the discipline right now to do that, but I can work on it and develop that patience. The first step is awareness and self reflection. With God's help, I can remain calm about the condition of my home. I still want a clean home, but it cannot be a source of joy or conflict for me. It is just a home!! It is just a mess!! I can't even believe I am saying that ... this will require quite a paradigm shift. God, help me!!
This post was inspired by the book "Peacemaking for Families" by Ken Sande.
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