"God Substitutes"

The Reason For God ~ Timothy Keller

- If you center your life and identity on your spouse or partner, you will be emotionally dependent, jealous, and controlling.

- If centered on family and children, you will try to live through your kids until they resent you or have no self of their own. At worst, you may abuse them when they displease you.

- If centered on money and possessions, you will be eaten up by worry or jealousy about money. You'd be willing to do unethical things to maintain your lifestyle, which will eventually blowup your life.

- If centered on pleasure, gratification, or comfort, you will find yourself addicted to something. You will become chained to the "escape strategies" by which you avoid the hardness of life.

- If centered on relationships and approval, you will be constantly overly hurt by criticism and thus always losing friends. You will fear confronting others and therefore be a useless friend.

- If centered on "noble causes", you will divide the world into "good" and "bad" and demonize tour opponents. Ironically, you will be controlled by your enemies. Without them, you have no purpose.

- If centered on religion and morality, you will strive to live up to standards, and will be proud, self-righteous, and cruel. If you don't live up to standards, your guilt will be utterly devastating.

Everybody has to live for something. Whatever that something is becomes "Lord of your life", whether you think of it that way or not. Jesus is the only Lord who, if you receive him, will fulfill you completely, and if you find him, will forgive you eternally.

"Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee!" ~ Saint Augustine