Scripture: “Even after Paul and Barnabas had said all this, they could hardly keep the people from offering a sacrifice to them. Some Jewish leaders from Antioch and Iconium came and turned the crowds against Paul. They hit him with stones and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.”  (Acts 14:18-19)

Seeing a miracle, the people of one town assumed Paul was a pagan god. They started to worship him. But they were just as quickly persuaded to try to kill him. How could someone jump so quickly from love to hatred?

When you make a person an idol, you cannot really love them, for you’re seeking something from them that they are unable to give you. 

The same way an idol is chiseled from stone, you “chip away” at someone who fails to please you. This causes you both great harm. The person believes you love them. But when you try to make them fit your idolatrous heart, your words and acts cut them deeply.

Is there someone in your life who is feeling pain because of your idolatrous heart?