October 5, 2026 · covetousness, discontentment, repentance
The sin of idolatry resides not just in the worship of false gods out there in the physical realm, this sin resides in your heart. Paul says that covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5), which includes coveting your neighbors wife, his car, his house, his children, or his prayer life. All forms of discontentment trespass against this commandment.
The lie of discontentment is that if only you had this, or if only your husband listened better, if only your wife was prettier, if only your children weren't so rowdy, if only your paycheck were larger, if only your parents gave you more freedom, THEN you would be happy. But look what happened to Israel. They got everything they wanted and what was the result? They formed a conga-line right off into the void. Under the guise of worship of Jehovah, they committed high-handed sin against Him, and fell under His judgment.
While you may not have constructed a golden calf in your backyard, if you have allowed that spirit of covetousness, comparison, and cavernous desire for more to reside in your heart, you can be sure that your heart is hard at work on the golden calf assembly line. As Moses demonstrated, there can be no compromise with idolatry. John Owen said, "You must be killing sin, or it will be killing you."
There's two ways to kill idolatry. If the idol is a good thing that you have idolatrously started to value more than Christ, repentance looks like demoting that good thing to its proper place. A husband who idolizes his wife is incapable of loving her as he ought, because he is more focused on using her to satisfy his desires. A wife who idolizes her husband is incapable of respecting him as she ought, because she is more focused on his obvious failure to be her personal Jesus. But when you demote your spouse to their proper place in your heart, underneath Christ, you are then able to love and respect them far more than before. Because remember, behind the idolatry sits a seething discontentment, which left unchecked, will result in the judgment of God breaking out.
The second way to deal with idolatry is to grind it up into powder and drink it. This repentance looks like completely destroying the idol, and refusing to keep even a shard of its remains for sentimental reasons. All pornography, all idolatrous reliance upon the state, all lust for respect, all craving for financial security, must be ground into dust and scattered to the winds. And once that has been done, believe in Jesus. Repent and believe. Kill the idol, worship Jesus.