15  ¶ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?  He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.  He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?  He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.  He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?  Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?  And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.  Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:15 – 17)

Idols are things that we love more than we love the Lord, more than we love righteousness, more than we love truth, virtue, justice, and mercy.

Worded a bit differently, the Lord also asks us, Lovest thou these more than me?

This is a serious question. As it turns out, it is very obvious that there are many things we definitely love more than we love God.

These idols often include:

• Riches
• Fancy Homes
• Land
• Nice Cars
• Delicious Food
• Travel to Exotic Places
• Fancy Vacations
• Beaches
• Sexuality
• Attractive Women or Men
• Sports
• Honors of Men
• Positions of Power and Glory
• Prestigious Careers
• Authority Over Others
• Self-Righteous Delusion
• Those that maketh and loveth a lie
• The Institutions of Men
• Religious Leaders
• Political Leaders
• Celebrities
• Fashion
• Parties
• Popularity

Lovest thou these more than me?

We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, might, mind, and strength.

We are commanded to love and seek God.

We are commanded to love and seek all righteousness.

We need to transition from desiring and seeking the pleasures of the world to desiring and seeking the things of righteousness.

Often, we rationalize our worship of idols, where we desire and seek the pleasures of the world more than, or instead of, seeking the righteousness of God. But we cannot love and seek God, with all our hearts, without letting go of the things of the world completely.

The mighty change of heart requires that we choose to love righteousness rather than worldly things. The mighty change of heart does not happen by accident. We have to choose to change. We have to choose to align our hearts and desires with God, with righteousness, by what we do, the things we pursue, the faith we exert, the sacrifices we make, and how we spend our time.

We must learn to live deliberately. Faith in Jesus Christ must be deliberate, calculated, sincere, and complete.

Shine the flashlight of your attention on those things and deeds that accomplish the greatest good, that enable all righteousness. Shine your flashlight were you want your mind, heart, and body to follow.

Turning your heart to God is not easy. Almost the entire physical world is fighting against this, including hormones, the desires of the flesh, the natural man, those in the great and spacious building, and all the influences and voices in the world tempting you with worldly things. The entire gravity of mortality is fighting against this. So, this is the test. We must overcome all that.

We can overcome all things by faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, the mighty change of heart, and the baptism of fire. But the processes for this are very calculated and deliberate.

The body tends to go where the heart is. And so we need to turn our hearts to God.

We turn our hearts to God by focusing only on righteous things and by doing only righteous things. The more we do this, the more purified our hearts become and the more our hearts and minds are brought into alignment with God’s.  

Wherefore, I beseech of you, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.
(Moroni 7:19)