Inventory Your Gods

Commandment 1 says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” In my book, I get into what this means. Those “other gods” include more than pagan deities. The first commandment refers to the real-life people we lift up as emotional power figures in our lives—the ones whose approval we need, the ones who can twist us out of shape with just an imperfect word or glance because of the hold they have over us. Our other gods are the ones who keep us smaller than God created us to be.

Who has this power over you? Make a list. Name names. You need not share this list with anyone, so be honest and thorough.

I have made a list like this. I do not know the process by which I gradually came to freedom once I had that list on paper, but I do believe that making the list was an empowering first step. Putting the names in writing makes things clear, and also puts the gods in their places. Those people on my list were not necessarily domineering or wrong—they mostly didn’t ask for this power and didn’t know they had it. All the more reason to get their influence out into the open.

A piece of paper, as it turns out, is something that remains mundane and material no matter what information is placed upon it. A piece of paper is something I can set aside, as I turn my attention to seeking God directly.