What is IDOLATRY? 6 Ways to Identify an Idol in Your Life

Hey Friend!

This episode is truly God-led. He had to give me the courage to record this one…

It’s not easy for me to talk about things that I struggle with. That we all struggle with… however, the holy spirit convicted me. And if there’s one thing I’m proud of, it’s my obedience to his leading.

It’s time to start standing in the gap for my sisters. Equipping you with what I know so that you can walk in freedom. Today we are answering the question, ‘What is IDOLATRY?’ I am going over 6 ways to KNOW if you have an idol in your life. I will also explain how to break free from it.

If you are a Christian Entrepreneur who wants to do business and life God’s way, this one is a must. If you have the desire to grow into your full authority as a daughter of the King and shed what the world says you are for who God says you are… Listen in. I pray this blesses you big.

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00):
Hey friend. Today we’re really digging into something that God placed on my heart, like a couple months ago. And I was like, Lord Jesus, how would you like me to talk about this? Because it’s kind of a lot. He just convicted me. And then one morning I was sitting there during my morning routine and I just had divine inspiration of really how to dig into this with you and how to do it in a way where you’re feeling the relief and the freedom, these things that have just held you captive for far too long.

(00:29):
So my friend, today, we are digging into what is idolatry, what is an idol? And then we’re going to discuss six ways to know if you have an idol in your life, we’re going to get down to the nitty-gritty in here. I pray that this finds you right on time. I pray that God will prepare your heart for this conversation today. And I just asked the Lord to be with me and for Holy Spirit to speak through me as we talk about this super hard topic, because I know that when I broke the shackles of idolatry in my own life and doesn’t mean that I don’t start idolizing something sometimes and find myself back in that space.

(01:06):
But my eyes have been opened. The veil has been lifted. God has done incredible things in my life. He has replaced the things that I laid down with gifts that were infinitely better. And I’m so excited to just dig into that with you, share more with you and maybe help you walk through this journey yourself.

(02:30):
So this is just from Webster dictionary, good old Webster. And it says idolatry is the worship of a physical object or a person as a God. Wordnik American Heritage dictionary says it’s the blind or excessive devotion to something, the worship of idols or images more generally the paying of divine honors to any created object in moderate veneration,. I don’t even know how to say that, of love for any person or thing.

(03:07):
Admiration bordering on adoration, the worship of idols images or anything, which is not God, the worship of false gods. Excessive attachment for anything or something respect or love which borders on adoration. The worship of idols, the worship of images that are not God. So you’re hearing this, right. And you’re probably thinking like how I used to think. Yeah. In the Bible, it talks about these people that idolized, you know, gold statues and I would never do that.

(03:42):
I don’t have any false idols in my life because sometimes we’re thinking of it as a physical object, that’s made of gold something that is in scripture. But what I’ve come to learn about idolatry is, it’s not necessarily something that’s physical and that was represented in scripture. It’s something that’s going on in our heart.

(04:08):
We are coveting something whether it’s a thing, a person, an idea, a relationship, an attribute more than we are loving our God, our one and true God, our father, Jesus Christ. We are putting something else before him. We all have idols. We’ve all struggled with idolatry. Let me just tell you, because I think that this is not me coming at you like I’ve never had an idol in my life.

(04:38):
This is me telling you that this is a battle that you will face. This is a battle that you’re probably facing right this very moment. But this is also a battle that we are called to fight. We can just look to scripture. First, John 5:21, Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 Corinthians 10:14. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry, Colossians 3:5 Put to death, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. AKA your flesh, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, which are idolatry.

(05:17):
Isaiah 45:20 Gather together and come; assemble you, fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who care about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Jonah 2:8 Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. Judges 10:14, Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble, burn. Leviticus, 19:4, Do not turn to idols or make gods for yourself. I am the Lord, your God. Okay, we get it.

(05:56):
We are not called to have idols. Yet. We are called to cast them down, break that idolatry, flee from it, run from it. But yet, it’s super difficult. And I think a lot of that difficulty comes from not recognizing what we are actually idolizing. So let me give you guys some examples of idolatry in my own life. When I was in my teens, I was idolizing my body, getting attention from guys, from the opposite sex.

(06:31):
That was everything that mattered to me, right? We can really look at this and say, do I have this excessive devotion to this thing or this heightened obsession with this thing? Definitely had that. And then I started to idolize fun, partying, drinking, all of those things. Then when I got into my twenties, the idolatry of my body got even even more heightened. I ended up getting breast implants.

(06:57):
Would you guys have heard me talk about, and it’s episode 40, I believe where I talk about why I removed them after 13 years of having them in my body. Simply I’d worked out twice a day. I had this obsession with this idea that when I look a certain way, blank, I will be what? Happy or needed or wanted or enough, whatever by that the enemy wants to plant and insert in that sentence, I was believing it.

(07:24):
And I know it was an idol now because I was unwilling to cast that down. It’s something that I was focused on daily. It’s something that I would think about all the time. It’s something that I was putting before God. Then, you know, you can go on and on in my late twenties, I started to idolize work, success, money, achievement, that’s all that mattered, getting to the number one spot in my then network marketing company.

(07:49):
It’s all that mattered to me. I would do it at the expense of everyone, everything, my family, my health, the anxiety attacks that were screaming out. Like it was everything to me. And again, that lie of when I make blank amount of money, I will be what? Happy, joyful, more present, more at peace, travel more, be a better mom. What was the lie?

(08:13):
Because me working and idolizing work and money and success, that was everything against what God was calling me to do. It was everything that the world was calling me to do. So I idolized that. I then idolized my phone. Wow. Idolizing social media, idolizing Instagram, idolizing who was liking my stuff. I couldn’t stop touching my phone. I couldn’t stop getting in the apps. I couldn’t stop posting. I have to do this. And the lie was, if I just keep doing this, I’ll build the business.

(08:45):
That was not a truth from God. That was a lie from the enemy to keep me stuck in my idolatry, to keep me tied to a little piece of metal and plastic and glass and put that little thing in front of the Lord, My God, my savior, the man who died for my sins so that I could go to heaven, so I could be seated in heavenly places. I put a phone above my Lord and savior.

(09:10):
We make these excuses as to why it’s okay. And we make up these lies as to why this is not an idol, it’s a means to an end. You know, what’s that idol that’s attacking your purpose? That’s attacking the character that God gave you your identity in Christ, your books and heaven. They are being tormented and, and shackled by these idols and all we have to do, it’s so amazing, all we have to do is recognize it.

(09:42):
Oh my gosh. I see you a little idle. I see you for what you are, you little tricky thing, you, little stinking thing. You, a little phone, you know, this was me when I was like, it’s my phone? Oh my goodness. I’m totally idolizing my phone. When you see it, you cannot unsee. And I will tell you when Holy Spirit is living inside of you and you open up to the conviction of the Lord and say, God cleanse my heart, cleanse my heart, take this idol away from me.

(10:11):
Replace the desire for this physical thing and replace it with a desire for you. And God will do that. He will do that. And you’ll be freed. I’ve been freed. It’s amazing. And I will never go back. I will never put back on the shackles. I read something this morning in scripture, in Habakkuk, again, I’ve been doing like the super deep dive into Habakkuk. I did a 30 day grace Bible study on it. And it talks about like this concept that in exchange for our sin and idolatry is death. I mean, it’s death, literal death.

(10:46):
Like we’re going to hell. We’re going to like because of our sin. Not because of us. Not because we are bad, not because we are naughty. But because of our sin, our sin must be dealt with and yet we’re attached to our sin. However, forgiveness, grace and freedom is free. It’s free. We can choose to throw away the sin to cast off the idols to say no more to any of that. And to set the boundaries up and to surrender it to God. It’s free, yet we choose chains.

(11:22):
We choose chains. And I think when we finally recognize that, when we finally say, God, I am willing to live without chains, we’re afraid. We as humanity, we are terrified to live without chains because we’ve grown up with them. We’ve been taught them. It’s been embedded in our lives that we have to live with these chains on, that if you don’t have the chains on, you’re not going to be successful, make money, be skinny enough, be pretty enough.

(11:51):
Have a good enough marriage. Be a good mom, make any money, be worthy. And we willingly put our arms out or like chain me up. As humanity when we say yes to idolatry, when we say yes to our flesh. I know this is getting deep, stay with me. I promise I’m bring it full circle for you. Okay? But what’s free, is the sledgehammer that breaks the chains. What’s free is us walking with no weight, no heaviness. Right?

(12:23):
We cast our burdens on Him. There’s absolute freedom. Like the door to our prison is open. That that’s it, like the door to our prison is wide open. And yet we’re choosing to stay in prison. And I just felt this morning, like this absolute conviction, like today is the day that I have this conversation with you guys, because I think what’s going on, you don’t know the door’s open and maybe you don’t even know you’re in prison because you haven’t looked up.

(12:56):
You haven’t looked around. You haven’t stopped to ask some hard questions. Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I in here? And how the heck do I get out? How do I get out of this prison? And I’m going to tell you today that the door it’s open.

(13:19):
So let’s first discuss. How do you know if you have an idol? I have six ways, six things that I want you to do here. The first thing I actually would like you to do is I’d like you to get out a sheet of paper. I want you to write down what you think is an idol in your life. And let me remind you what an idol is.

(13:39):
It’s the worship or excessive devotion to a person, a thing, an emotion, or a feeling, or an attribute, the excessive devotion to blank. What do you think that is? Go ahead and write some things down and you probably have more than one. And that’s, you know what, like, I’m not gonna say that’s okay, but I’m gonna say that that is normal. You are normal. Okay. And you are all ready forgiven, sister.

(14:08):
So there’s so much good news in this. Do not be afraid of this exercise. This exercise is going to absolutely change you forever. So number one, how to know if you have an idol? We’re going to go through six ways right now. Number one, and I’m actually going to pray with you right now, because I think sometimes it’s hard and elusive and you’re like, you know, Stef said to pray.

(14:33):
I don’t know what to pray. Let me show you. Let’s do it together. If you will, and you’re not driving, close your eyes with me. I just want you to really open your heart to hearing this prayer. You are welcome to say it with me. If you’d like, you’re welcome to just listen and then pray your own version of this.

(14:51):
Lord, I pray on behalf of all of the women listening today that have closed their eyes and open their hearts to seeking out from the corners of their flesh any idolatry that is hiding, any idolatry that has been disguised by the enemy, any idols that are appearing as means to an end, any idolatry, Lord, that they are not aware of. God, I ask you to bring that forth in the name of Jesus in their mind right now, Lord, God.

(15:20):
I ask you to bring out of their soul the idols that are keeping them from turning to you, allow them to see what the things are that they are adoring. The things that they’re afraid to lay down. The things they’re clutching to. The things that they think are going to make them happy or successful or better or loved, needed or whatever those lies are. God, I pray that you would bring that thing out in their minds, that they might write it down God and cast it out.

(15:55):
Pray for eyes to see and ears to hear. We pray that the veils would be lifted from our eyes so that we can be cleansed in the name of Jesus, today. We pray for the strength and the resilience to fight against these idols. These invisible prisons, God. We ask you to break the shackles from our arms, from our legs, from our marriages, from our motherhood, from addiction, sin, impurity.

(16:20):
God, you’re so good. Thank you for freeing us today, Lord. I’m so grateful. We’re so grateful that you can cleanse our heart and that we are instantly forgiven. We’re so grateful, God, that you have so much grace for us. We love you. We are so thankful. I thank you for repairing us. I pray that through this today, Lord, that the girls are restored, that there is no guilt, no shame, no condemnation, none of that, God, but it is all love, repairing, healing, they’re set on their healing paths.

(16:54):
God, they’re set in their heavenly positions of authority and that because they’re willing to lay these idols down, God. That you would replace it with something infinitely better, bigger, more fruitful, more incredible, so much glory in obedience. We love you so much in Jesus’ name. Amen.

(17:13):
All right, sister, I hope you felt that. I so felt that I have tears in my eyes for you and myself, because I’m like, Lord cleanse my heart. What is in there? Get it out. I’m here for it. I’m here for this. Okay. That’s number one. So any time, I mean, honestly guys, I probably pray this once a week. Like God cleanse my heart, softened my heart, remove any stains from my heart. You know, because our eyes and our ears are gates. This was such a weird concept for me.

(17:43):
So let me try to explain this. When we watch something in pure and sometimes it’s just as innocent, I have air quotes as like something on Netflix and we’re watching this show and there’s something off about it. And we start to feel something. We start to feel uncomfortable, right? We start to feel strange or afraid or sad. There’s these emotions that come in.

(18:12):
And I think that those are alarms. I never recognized this before. And I’ve watched so many things that I should have never seen, but, there are alarms that are going, Holy Spirit is sending us alarms, like, please turn that off, turn away. We’ve got to protect our eye gates and our ear gates. And sometimes idols will creep in because of seeds that we’ve allowed to manifest in our heart or our minds by what we watch or what we hear.

(18:38):
Sometimes it manifests in our mind because we are making excuses as to why it’s okay. You know, like, oh, it’s okay. If I’m on social media, just one more hour, even though our children are screaming and begging for our attention, yet we can’t break the addiction. We think we can’t do it. We think it has such a hold on us that we make excuses as to why it’s okay.

(18:59):
No, it’s okay. I’m still talking to my kid, but I’m just looking at my phone, right? Like we make these excuses up. So when I’m praying to God, like cleanse my heart Lord, of what is not from you, He will, and I have to be ready to receive that information. I’m so excited when God shows me something that I am idolizing or something that I am making an excuse for because I absolutely refuse to not live a life to my full potential that God created me for.

(19:30):
And I will not. I refuse to let the enemy trick me or for myself, my own flesh to pull me down into some hole of idolizing some ridiculous thing that’s going to make no difference in the kingdom of God. I stand against it. I come against it. I fight it. I will fight all day against idols that try to take me captive and put me in that prison. I will not go. I refuse.

(19:58):
And you should refuse to, we do not have to take this. We do not have to take this. We have to rise up and fight. We have to stand up and say no more. We have to draw our battle line in the sand, armor up with the armor of God and come against it. We have to make big changes. We have to do big, really scary, hard things that no one else is doing. We have to be the difference. So it begins with prayer.

(20:28):
Number two. Inventory the desires of your flesh. So, there are three levels to us. Number one, we’re flesh, right? Scripture says we are created from the dust. We are flesh. Our flesh is of the world because we leave our flesh behind when we pass on, okay. Then we have our soul. Our soul is our mind. Our soul is our thoughts. And then we have our spirit, Holy Spirit.

(21:01):
So if we are to inventory the desires of our flesh, this means what is Stefanie wanting? And what is Stefanie desiring every day? This is a really easy prayer as well. It’s also an easy journaling exercise, you know, Lord, reveal to me the desires of my flesh, cast those down, like Lord, I ask you to help me operate from my spirit.

(21:30):
I want to make every decision with Holy Spirit. I don’t ever want flesh Stefanie making choices. I’ve been her. And I know what happens when I lead from my flesh. Like we are all sinners. However, what incredible news that we’re saved the second that you say, Lord Jesus, you are my savior, you are my Lord, I am here, I surrender to you. Come into my heart, come into my life, God.

(21:58):
Change me. Use me. Let me be with You forever, God. I’m so excited to cast down all the things of this world and just operate from heavenly places. Show me what I’m desiring from a fleshly place. He’ll show you, I’m telling you, and then you’re not going to be able to handle it because you’re going to be able to see it. And you’re going to want to change.

(22:22):
I think that’s the biggest thing for me is that somewhere along the line, I started to want to change. I started to want to get out of the prison. I started to want to not be on my phone. I wanted to lay down social media. I wanted to stop being on a diet rollercoaster, or idolizing the scale. You know, all these things happen that I wanted to change about myself.

(22:48):
Not because of rules, but because Holy Spirit, I was leading from my spirit and Holy Spirit was convicting me to change, to shed this old version of myself and I wanted it. So I think that’s where I want you to get. And I want you to understand that this doesn’t have to be hard.

(23:08):
This can be easy, but it begins with, putting your ego away and being willing to do some really hard things in order to see this fruit, this incredible closeness with God that I think only comes when we are truly seeking after holiness. And we’ll never be fully holy and we’ll never be sinless, but when we’re seeking after that, there’s so much reward in that.

(23:35):
Number three. And you guys can just write these down and then go through them when I’m done or you can do them, you can pause me right now and be going through this stuff. Whatever you want. Number three, are you willing to compromise your faith for it? You know, there was a time back in when I was a network marketer and I was full of sin when it came to money and working and being a workaholic and idolizing more and busy and hustle.

(24:11):
I was sacrificing my faith. I was compromising my faith for my own success. I was doing things that didn’t feel morally right. I was selling in ways that didn’t sit with me. I was not being a steward of the gifts that God had given me. I was doing everything from a place of self and I forgive myself for that. So I think what’s important here. You guys is, these are just questions to identify so that you can change these behaviors. Now you are not your past, okay?

(24:46):
You are not your sin. You are a child of God. You are beautifully and wonderfully made. And you’re living in a fallen world and the world is going to come at you with everything they have to put you in that prison, right? Lies, bad mentors, maybe absen parents, traumas, abuses, going to tell you that you’re ugly, you’re fat, you’re not good enough. You’re never going to be blank. You know, the world’s going to come at you with every lie.

(25:17):
And so we come up with these narratives in our mind about what will change that lie. No, I can’t be that. Maybe if I look like her or make enough money. So like, I think these idols they’re being bred up in us from tricks, you know that this fallen world, I mean, it is what it is. We’re here, but we don’t have to be of the world.

(25:41):
And all we have to do is be willing to look deeper at ourselves and at these lies and then be willing to change them. That’s it. There’s no holding onto it. I’m free. I am 100% free from the sins of my past today. I’m not sitting in it. I’m not feeling guilty for it because I’m done with it. I’m absolutely done with it. I’m not going back there. I’ve walked out of the prison.

(26:11):
I’m done. I didn’t look back. So the second that you walk out of the prison and you really mean it. You don’t have one foot in anymore because there’s a time where you might keep one foot in the prison. I am just praying for you right now. I’m encouraging you right now. Get out, run, because that prison will do nothing for you, but kill, steal, and destroy. So you can run from that prison and you don’t have to look back. You don’t have to sit in that sadness, that darkness, that guilt, that shame, none of that’s from God. You are immediately redeemed when you say I am done with this. So just want to put that there.

(26:55):
Number four, How to know if you have an idol? I want you to inventory your negative emotions. What is making you feel constantly angry, frustrated, feeling an uncomfortable level of desire for something in obsession. I want you to inventory all of those feelings and emotions because when I do that and when I’ve done, if I would have done that in my past, I could have easily drawn a map from my emotion back to an idol, almost every single time.

(27:33):
So for example, I used to drink a lot and, and I drank all the time as a teenager. And then I drank all the time in my twenties, I would drink so much that it was just normal when I was turning to the Lord. And I was really asking to be changed. I started getting conviction about alcohol. I would have anxiety attacks every time I would drink, if I would have just looked at that outcome of that anxiety. And I was like, where is this anxiety truly coming from?

(28:03):
Like, where is it linked? It would have immediately pointed back to alcohol, but I was so afraid of giving up that idol in my life that I kept looking to every other possible option. No, it must be when I travel. Oh no, it’s just because I’m leaving my kids at home so I’m having mommy guilt. No, none of that’s truth. You got to look at the data and the data is I would have an anxiety attack as soon as I would drink. And that was Holy Spirit convicting me that I was to lay down an idol in my life, which I did. Thank you, Jesus. You are so faithful.

(28:38):
Number five, Does this thing, blank, push you closer to God or pull you away? So when we look at pride, for example, you know, does you being prideful, do you thinking that you have to be in control of everything or that you control your destiny and you are unwilling to give that up and lay that down, does that pull you closer to God or push you away?

(29:15):
And these are the questions that we need to be asking ourselves about all of our actions. Is this pulling me closer to God or pushing me farther away is this relationship or this friend or this action or this emotion or this vice, what’s it doing?

(29:29):
And I think when we ask this question for me, this is just a black and white answer. If it’s something or someone that’s pushing me far away from my God, who is my entire reason for living, I’m out. I’m not going to play. I’ve been there. You know, like I know how fast an idol begins to take control of my life and how much darkness there is in trying to validate it.

(29:59):
Number six, last one, ask yourself what you are most afraid of losing or getting rid of. Ask yourself what you are most afraid of getting rid of, or you don’t want to lose. You guys might laugh at this. You probably will, but I do not want to not drink my coffee. I’m like, I love coffee, Lord, please don’t make me give up my coffee. Oh my gosh. I love my coffee. And then the Lord, He’s fun. He’s funny. He’s like, yeah, but you love me more than coffee.

(30:35):
And so like the last time I did a fast, I actually included coffee and it was like so hard, but there’s even fruit in that. Like just down to these things that we’re so afraid. And I don’t think I was like idolizing coffee, but I did want to prove to my Jesus that I loved Him more than coffee. So I have given it up for multiple weeks at a time and months at a time. And it’s been just fine. I would like you to know, you will survive.

(31:00):
So it’s really like asking yourself, what would I be terrified to be without? And this is a really hard question. Cause sometimes it’s your marriage or your kids. You know, there is a level of idolatry that we can step into over like adoration or obsession over things that we just, because we love that thing so much, but we have to be so careful that we always keep God as number one in our lives.

(31:27):
So you’ve gone through, let me recap our six questions for you. And I’m going to tell you what to do. If you’ve identified that you do have an idol. So number one, you’re going to pray that the Lord will cleanse your heart of all idolatry, that he will bring forward for you in truth. The things that you are coveting, the things that you are putting above Him and that he would convict you with the power of the Holy Spirit to cast those things down and that you would be given strength and resiliency to do that.

(31:53):
Number two, you’re going to inventory the desires of your flesh. What does your flesh want? What are you desiring over? This one, a lot of times too, like, what are you desiring over people? if you’re really looking at it from a thing perspective. Number three, are you willing to compromise your faith for it?

(32:14):
Number four, inventory your negative emotions. I’m going to write down what’s causing that emotion or what the tie is to the emotion. And often if you map it back, you’re going to come to a direct correlation to what you’re idolizing. Number five. Does it push you closer to God or pull you away?

(32:33):
Number six, what are you most afraid of losing or getting rid of in your life? Those are the questions. So if you’ve sat, if you’ve prayed and been convicted or you’ve answered any of those questions with some idols right now, please write them down, please be honest.

(32:50):
You don’t have to share them with anyone. You don’t have to show anybody this list. This is just for you and for God and for you to cleanse your heart for you to make some changes in your life. And you are not alone. Every single person listening to this right now is probably crying. They’re probably writing down a handful of things that God has convicted them that need to go. And that they are struggling in their heart about how to do that. You’re not alone.

(33:18):
I want you to know that it’s okay and that I’ve been there and I am there and we are humans, but you are loved and you were enough and you were forgiven and God is with you. He is with you through this whole process. He has called you to listen to this episode on purpose. He’s positioned you so that you can be free from the prison. He wants you to walk out the door. And the door is right here. I promise you it’s right here.

(33:47):
So what to do, if you’ve identified that you have an idol or some idols that you need to work on? Number one, decide to give it up. It’s really hard for us to give the things up that we don’t want to give up, but I’m going to tell you that your life will change when you walk out the door. So it’s the decision first. And if you’re not there yet, Lord, give me the desire to give this up. Give me the desire Lord, to give up this idol.

(34:20):
Number two, pray for help. Like I just mentioned, and you also, you know, I would pray for forgiveness. I felt convicted to say that because I think sometimes forgiveness or repentance, it gets a bad rap. But the reality is we’ve sinned, we’ve hurt God’s heart. He loves us so much and He doesn’t want us to be living in sin. He wants us to be walking in with Him, hand in hand.

(34:44):
He wants us to be operating from heavenly places and it hurts his heart when we turn away from him and we are disobedient or, you know, chasing after the things of our flesh, He forgives us for that. However, you know, God, I’m so sorry that I hurt your heart when I was turning to alcohol, when I was turning to success more than You, when I was adoring myself more than You, I just love You so much and I’m sorry for that. And God forgives us. He loves us so much.

(35:13):
Number three, remove it. Guys, your idol is probably an addiction in your life whether you want to call it that or not. A phone, anyone write your phone down, anyone write social media down. Did anyone write down success? Money? I don’t know. There’s all kinds of things that makes you feel good.And so we have to remove it.

(35:38):
And whenever I’m breaking up with an idol, I have to completely remove it from my life and ask God for strength. Now, sometimes maybe you can use that thing again. Maybe your phone is an idol and you’re like, I can’t never use my phone again. But can you buy a flip phone? I have a client who did that and I’m like, so here for it can use a flip phone for 60 days and then see what God wants you to do next.

(36:04):
Like for me, I deleted Instagram for 30 days. Even after I had been deleting it every single weekend for three years, it wasn’t enough. It was still an addiction. It was still bothering me. I was still being convicted against it. And now, you know, the team is using it for business, but I have zero desire to be there at all. I have zero desire to share on stories. It’s all gone. Like God has cleansed me of that, but I had to get rid of it completely so I could see. So I could hear from Him.

(36:34):
Number four, fast or pray and read scripture. Guys, there are secrets in scripture that you don’t even know that you don’t know. It is not just a bunch of words that are confusing. There are treasures inside of scripture. If the word is God and God is the word, then you can talk and speak and hear directly from God by digging into the Bible, read your Bible. It will change your life, I promise you. NLT version, NIV version start in the new Testament, ask God to open your eyes and pour treasure into your heart and he will.

(37:16):
Number five. Don’t give up as with any spiritual warfare, as with any addiction as with any idle, it’s going to be a journey for you to be cleansed of that. I battled with the should I, you know, whatever, should I not do this business anymore? Or should I get my breast implants out? Like there were so many things that I battled with for years and years before I finally gave in and said, I’m walking out of this prison.

(37:50):
And I’m not saying anything is right or wrong because I think each idle is between you and God. And maybe it’s not an idol for you. Something that was an idol for me is not an idol for you. That’s okay. Everybody’s different. I’m not saying that something is good or bad. I’m just saying, what are you coveting? Those were things that I was coveting.

(38:07):
So don’t give up, keep praying, keep your heart focused on Him. And I just want to leave you guys with some scripture right now, and then I’m going to let you go. And I hope that this episode blessed you. I hope that I did Holy Spirit service. I hope that I brought glory to God through this conversation. Cause it made me a little queasy.

(38:26):
It made me feel some type of way to have this conversation with you. But I wish someone would have had this conversation with me 10 years ago because I would’ve walked out of that prison so long ago. So here’s some scriptures for you to stand on and know that you can overcome this. Every good and perfect gift is from above James 1:7. God is with you. He never leaves you. Joshua 1:9 and Psalm 139. God will deliver you from this, Psalm 34:17.

(39:01):
If you forgive those who sin against you, Your heavenly Father will forgive you, Matthew 6:14. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9. God chose you to be the holy people he loves. You must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness and humility, Colossians 3:12. Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, renew a loyal spirit in me, Psalms 51:10. What joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty, Psalms 32:2. Satan will not outsmart us. We are familiar with his schemes. 2 Corinthians 2:11.

(39:54):
Thanks for hanging out with me today. I’m so excited to hear how this work went for you. If you feel led, shoot me an email support@stefaniegass.com. I would love to know if this blessed you. If this convicted you, challenged you, I’d love to know what idols you are breaking up with, what prisons you are walking out of today, free and clear. Yes. By the glory of Jesus. Won’t He do it?

(40:18):
I can’t wait to hear from you. And as always, you can come hang out with us at Bit.ly/successsupportgroup. That’s my female entrepreneurship community. Love you guys so much. I’m so proud of you. I’m so excited that I get to be part of this journey with you. And I can’t wait to see what’s on the other side. God bless.