What Do You Live For?--Part Two

Diagnosing Your Worship

If all of life is worship and we find that our lives are broken in some way, then change must begin with changed worship in the heart. The following questions from Dr. Tim Keller can help you diagnose your worship: • What do I live for? • What would I die without?

What do you live for?

Related questions to explore what you live for include the following: • What desires are in the depths of your heart? • What desires shape the course of your life? • What desires make you feel alive when they’re met, or leave you feeling furious, dead, or depressed when unmet? • What desires are you willing to pay the price for and sacrifice to get? • What desires get you out of bed in the morning and cause you to spring to action in hot pursuit? • What desires lead you to blow up in rage against anyone who gets in your way? • What desires lead you to keep your distance from other people for fear of what might happen—or what they might see—if you were close?

What would you die without?

Maybe you’re thinking you don’t have such intense desires as those suggested in the previous paragraph. They may strike you as dramatic. If so, then consider the possibility that your ultimate desires are already being met to some degree. But what if they were threatened? For example, let’s say you have your spouse, kids, dream house, dream job, and great friends; your life is a picture that others only dream of. But what if those things were taken from you? Would you feel like dying? You see, you always live for something. To not worship is to not live. It’s like a garden hose that can’t be turned off. You can aim it at the grass, the car, or the shrubs, but you cannot stop its flow. In the same way, your heart is constantly pouring out in worship to see your deepest desires satisfied. Distorted, sinful, misdirected worship is referred to as "idolatry" in the Bible, and the object of such worship is called an "idol."