What helped Nanci and I most avoid idolatry in marriage was that over the years, we came to say—and to really believe—that we were each other's second best friend. Based on John 15 and His sacrificial love toward us, Jesus was our best friend. No one else was close to taking the place we had in each other’s lives, but we would always put God first.

Secondary happiness, which is found in something or someone God has created, ultimately leads back to Him. Have you ever pointed to something you want a child to see and then watched the child look at your finger instead of what you’re pointing at? The secondary only fulfills its purpose when people follow it to the primary.

The “high places” is a shorthand term for places of pagan worship, usually (though not always) on hills or mountains to bring them closer to their false gods. They were centers of idolatry. The greatest time of compromise for God’s people in the Old Testament, the Israelites, was when in addition to worshiping Yahweh, the only true God, they worshipped false gods too.

In April 2017, Randy Alcorn taught a course at Veritas Evangelical Seminary on the subject of prolife. In this clip, he explains that abortion is a form of idolatry. 

The problem with idols is not that they’re intrinsically wrong. God created wood, stone, and gold, which can be fashioned into heathen idols. Likewise, He created family, friendships, work, music, art, sex, food, drink, and all that we rightly value. But all of these can still become idols—God-substitutes.

In April 2016, Randy Alcorn spoke at his home church, Good Shepherd Community Church, in Boring, Oregon, on the subject of happiness. In this clip, Randy talks about the relationship between happiness and idolatry. For more information, check out Randy's Happiness book.

God created things as means to help us delight in Him. The problems start when we believe we can find more happiness in God’s creation than in God Himself.

Theology, sadly, can also become an idol—as is everything that we put above God. Love theology, but be aware that if you care more about doctrine than about God, something is desperately wrong.

Scripture makes it clear that God is the ultimate source of happiness. Our problem is when we start seeking happiness in things that are secondary instead of primary.