“He just texted me again!” Abby said with a girlish squeal. She and her two sisters were hanging out in her bedroom chatting about guy stuff. Abby was nineteen years old and secretly hoping that Clay was “the one.”

She woke up every morning wondering if he had texted her. If he hadn’t texted her, she would instantly think, “I wonder if he’ll text me today!” Or “Should I shoot him a text?” Or “Should I try and casually sit by him when we hang out in groups?” Or “Maybe I should suggest going on a date…?”

Thoughts like these consumed her mind morning until night for several months.

This guy was the highlight of her life. Even though Abby was a Christian girl, Clay honestly seemed way more exciting to her than God. What started out as a small part of her thoughts turned into an overwhelming part of her life.

One evening Abby decided to attend a Christian conference for young singles at her church. She knew Clay was going to be there and hoped he would sit by her. Little did she know how timely the conference would be in her life.

The entire evening was themed around the topic of idols in the heart. After 2 long hours of heart-wrenching conviction, Abby quietly broke down in tears as she realized how much of an idol Clay had become in her life.

After many tearful nights, she finally surrendered Clay to God and repented of making him an idol.

I have a feeling many of you girls can relate to this type of guy “obsession.” It has happened to me more times that I’d like to admit (When Girls Chase Boys They Don’t Get What They Want).

Even for good Christians girls, a certain guy can begin to consume all of your thoughts and start to take the place of God in your life. This is when he becomes an idol.

The obsession doesn’t usually start all at once though.

It’s a slow process of allowing your mind to dwell on thoughts about the guy more and more until one day you dream about him 24/7. Ever happened to you?

The truth is, God put a great desire in most of our hearts to love a man and be loved by a man. God created marriage and it’s a beautiful thing. But – this beautiful gift becomes a serious problem if it becomes more important and more exciting than your relationship with God.

A guy becomes an idol the minute you place more value and priority on him than you do on God.

You remove God from the throne of your life and instead put the guy, romance, marriage, etc. in God’s place. That is an idol of the heart.

As Elyse Fitzpatrick says, “Idols aren’t just stone statues. No, idols are the thoughts, desires, longings, and expectations that we worship in the place of the true God. Idols cause us to ignore the true God in search of what we think we need.”

Whatever your heart seeks the most will become the most exciting to you.

If you seek guys the most, they will become the most exciting thing in your life. If you seek God the most, He will become the most exciting thing in your life.

Exodus 20:3-4 says, “You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.”

As Christian girls we have to remember these foundational truths about our God:

• Only God can fully satisfy me.
• God is in control of every aspect of my life.
• No earthly thing or person will ever be able to satisfy me and meet all of my needs.
• God will give me what I need (not want) according to His perfect plan.
• When you learn to love the Lord with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength your desires will become more and more like God’s desires and you will feel truly content and satisfied.

You need Him more than you need any guy! If you’re seeking to honor God first, and do His will, you can rest assured that you will find satisfaction and joy in Him alone.

And if you’re not sure if you have a guy-idol (or any idol), read the following questions to find out:

What must you have for life to be meaningful?
What/Who is your hope and trust in?
Who or what do you love most?
Is there anything you can’t live without?
What must you have in order to be truly happy?

If your answer to any of those questions was anything other than God, you have an idol in your heart.

I challenge you to fully surrender any idols that you currently have in your life.

Ask God to search your heart and reveal any idols you may not be aware of. Then, confess your sin to God and lay them at the feet of the cross. Choose to spend more time reading God’s word and praying to Him each day. Invest daily time and energy into that relationship.

And when you do, you will quickly discover that He truly can become even more exciting than guys. He can satisfy every need in your life.

I want to hear from you!

If you have an idol in your life right now (even a small one), and you are willing to surrender it to God, I want you to do two things:

1. Pray every day for God to give you a greater love and satisfaction in Him rather than in _________ (fill in your idol’s name).
2. Write a comment below that says, “YES GOD, I SURRENDER.”

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