on the idols we worship and serve

We are all wired for two things: community and worship.
Both are ancient. Both are instinctive. Both are holy when aligned with truth.

But when those instincts become misplaced—
when worship shifts from God to people,
from divine connection to cultural validation,
from spiritual grounding to social approval—
something breaks inside us.

Because worship was never meant to be directed at
people, platforms, opinions, or outcomes.
And community was never meant to become a stage where we perform for acceptance.

People-pleasing is the modern form of misplaced worship.
It looks harmless on the surface—kindness, helpfulness, harmony.
But underneath, it’s a quiet form of idolatry.
A way of handing our power, identity, and belonging
to people who were never meant to hold it.

When we start worshipping people, places, and things—
we stop hearing the One voice meant to lead us.
We lose the clarity that anchors us.
We forget who we are.
And slowly, we become who others expect us to be.

Misplaced worship is subtle at first.
It looks like self-sacrifice.
Like loyalty.
Like being “easy to work with.”
Like being agreeable.
Like always being the strong one.
Like shrinking your needs so others stay comfortable— while you quietly disappear.

But over time, it becomes destructive, draining, and sometimes deadly—
because it disconnects us from the Source we were meant to worship
and the community we were meant to build.

Here’s the truth:
You were never created to bend your life around people’s approval.
You were created to build community, not worship it.
To love people, not idolize them.
To serve with heart, not from fear.
To stand in your God-given identity, not in borrowed expectations.

Healthy community never asks you to betray yourself.
Healthy community doesn’t require worship.
It reflects God back to you.
It strengthens your voice instead of silencing it.
It calls you higher, not smaller.
It is anchored in truth, not performance.

And this is where faith shifts everything.
Faith reorders what we worship.
Faith breaks the chains of people-pleasing.
Faith pulls our attention away from cultural idolatry—
the cult of productivity, perfection, popularity, image—
and roots us back in what is eternal.

Worship is meant to make you whole, not exhausted.
It’s meant to liberate you, not drain you.
It’s meant to return you to yourself, not erase you.

Because when worship returns to its rightful place,
Your life returns to alignment.

Your voice returns.
Your discernment strengthens.

And your nervous system unclenches as your heart remembers its Source.

Tomorrow, we step into Day 10 — the power of owning your story.
Not the polished version shaped by approval, but the one God has entrusted to you.

We’re not here to worship every demand and whim. We’re here to become who we truly are. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

If you’re joining mid-series, you can revisit the earlier reflections here.
And if you’d like to go deeper with a 21-day guided journey through these themes , get your copy of Wake Pray Slay.