When it comes to idol there is always a word from the Old Testament that can be considered an excellent reference. It is present in the book of exodus in chapter 32 and tells us about the episode of the golden calf.
What happens
This passage describes the condition of the people who await Moses on the slopes of Sinai. Days go by and they don’t see him coming back. The conditions are not favorable, their leader is missing, but above all, unlike Moses, they are unable to see God, to be in a relationship with him.
For this reason, they build a golden calf, a god to worship. It is not a random choice, the calf represents one of the main Egyptian deities. So they are really trying to be in a relationship with divinity.
Idol what the problem is
The word idol in Greek comes from the verb orao, which means to see. The idol is therefore a replacement for the living and true God. A God that we build ourselves to heal that desire for life that pulsates within us. In fact, each of us has a wound of infinity that beats in our hearts. We are often not aware of this call.
And for this reason, we take for granted certain behaviors that instead are nothing more than compensation for something much more true and profound. For this reason, it is good that each of us takes a path of truth to understand if, at this moment of his life, he has put something in the place of God.
Two different times
Probably each of us has encountered and faced the theme of idols. Going forward on the path of life it must be faced in a different way. At first, the idol was often something that took life away and had to do with obvious illusions (to have, to be able, to appear).
However, when someone begins to walk from good to better, the enemy attacks in this way by relying on different realities, and normally considered as good.
For example, the family, an illness that needs attention, work lived for the support of life and the family, a wife or a husband. All good things, but if they take the place of God they prevent him from being the source for our life.
A suggestion
The step to take is to understand what we have made into an idol. Once we understand this, it is a question of going to verify what need is hidden behind that action that we have carried out in a more or less conscious way.
It can be a need for confirmation, a need for attention, fulfillment, listening, and many others. When we understand, it will be a question of understanding how God can heal that need, taking the place of the idol to whom we have delegated this responsibility.