Which God do you worship? Christians would answer "the God of the Bible and Him only". Atheists would answer "none, since there is no God". Obviously, these are two different answers based on two completely different perspectives. But is either the Christian or the atheist being completely honest based on their beliefs? In my opinion, no. None of us is perfect, regardless of our beliefs, and even the best Christians fall prey to temptation at times. When we make other things (money, big houses, pride, lust, greed, etc.) our number one priority instead of God, don't we worship them as gods instead of the one true God? The things we put first in life are our gods, whether Christian or atheist. To paraphrase Romans 1:25, "we exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised."
Anyone who knows me knows that I struggle with my temper (and, as a result, what comes out of my mouth). There have been times in my life when external events have caused this struggle to be particularly difficult. If I told you about these events, you might say "your anger seems like it was completely justified to me". But was it? I felt like it was at the time. It made me feel morally superior (which I'm not). Anger became my favorite t-shirt that I put on every morning because it was so comfortable. It was like a choice vine that I planted and watered every day, and in time it produced fruit accordingly: bitterness, impatience, and a sense of isolation. No, I wasn't mad all the time, but my anger did affect the people around me and it was my god at times.
So back to my original question: which God do you worship? For me, there are times when it has been anger. Others worship money, possessions, food, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, sex - the list goes on and on. Anything we put before God in our lives becomes a god for us. It is only through the one true God that we can overcome these things that cause us to stumble. The bottom line is this: are we focused on God or are we focused on the world? We must "fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal". (2 Corinthians 4:18)
