“What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” A.W. Tozer’s words ooze with conviction now maybe more than ever before. In a day and age where self-actualization, moral relativism, and identity rule conversations in our social circles, it’s imperative for us to be attuned to our personal stances.

Culture screams self-determination. I get to choose who God is, what He’s like, and who I am. Really, that’s all just confirming a deeper desire that’s run rampant since the Fall – I get to be god now.

Romans 1 has some interesting things to say about this. First, Paul mentions that we all are able to see God simply by looking outside and seeing the things He has made (Romans 1:20). He then points out where people have gone wrong. “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like” (Romans 1:21).

We find ourselves in a vulnerable place when we stop worshiping and adoring God for who He truly is. As Paul points out, the people who no longer worship Him and refuse to look to God with gratitude begin a journey down a new road. This road leads them to begin thinking foolish things about God – things that aren’t true.

J.K. Smith profoundly mentions in one of his books, “you are what you love and you might not love what you think.” He goes on to explain that we are beings that are made to worship and it isn’t a question of whether we will worship – it’s a question of what will we worship.

The foolish ideas about God result in, “their minds becoming dark and confused” (Romans 1:21b). It’s important to note here that there is a process to a dark and confused mind. You don’t just wake up one morning and boom you’re filled with darkness. No, it’s a sticky process that begins with a little, and slowly accumulates over a time.

Smith’s point rings true in verse 23, “And instead of worshipping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:23). Paul doesn’t say they stopped worshipping. He says they worshipped something else. “They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator Himself” (Romans 1:25).

Friend, what is it that you’re worshiping? Our minds are malleable and if we aren’t careful we can find ourselves worshiping things that aren’t true. This extends even to who we understand God to be. The dark and confused people Paul is referring to didn’t stop worshiping “God” they worshiped things that they mistakenly thought were God but were not.

I understand the gravity of the words I’m writing, and here’s the good news. The Bible is the revelation of God’s character and nature. We clearly have spelled out what and who God is like. I want to encourage us to practice taking a self-appraisal of what we believe. Lies around who God is can slip under the cracks if we aren’t careful.

God is worthy of worship. He made us to worship Him and live in full communion with Him – it’s what we’re for. The best thing we can do to ensure what we’re worshiping is truly the Lord is to know His Word, to read the Bible. What is true reveals two things: it leads us to deeper truth and it uncovers what is false. Friend, we must carefully consider what it is we believe because we all do believe something. And as Tozer so famously pointed out regarding our ideas about God – it’s the most important thing there is.