Idols-of-the-heart Quotes by Michael J Heil

“I felt so lost in my addiction, I believed that no one was capable of understanding or helping me. I thought I was uniquely broken, so messed up that no other human could possibly get me. Turns out most addicts feel that way. I knew he drank occasionally, but I had no clue how much he drank, how much it…

— Michael J Heil

“That’s when it finally hit home—God is not a pile of bricks or a collection of outdated rules—He is a living, breathing, Being. No church, no building, no collection of people would ever be Him. He was God. He was love. He is the greatest being in the universe. Nothing—save Jesus’ death on the cross—could ever fully represent Him or…

— Michael J Heil

“I didn’t realize that there would always be something influencing my decisions and weighing in on my life. At this moment weed was calling the shots and the desire to win approval from others controlled most of what I did. These were my idols, the things I functionally relied on to carry me through the hardships of life. I loved…

— Michael J Heil

“If you use sex whenever you want with whomever you want, you’re treating it like trash, like it means nothing. Imagine a piece of duct tape. It’s got a purpose, it’s designed to stick to something, but if you stick it to the dog and rip it off, then the floor, the wall, the toilet, the neighbor’s pit, after that,…

— Michael J Heil

“I was no longer missing a piece. Jesus had taken all my insufficiencies, washed them away, and filled the very core of my being with His approval. Just like the day that He had given me a clean slate and released me from jail, now He was doing that same thing internally. He was washing away the belief that I…

— Michael J Heil

“I’d been so used to the court system and thinking of myself as a criminal. I’d been so used to pleading in abeyance, proclaiming my guilt and unworthiness and asking the judge for mercy. But God’s love went beyond anything I’d seen in my lifetime. He wasn’t just giving me mercy by overlooking my sins, He was giving me justice…

— Michael J Heil

“I tried to think and hope for the best, but it didn’t change who I was. It didn’t change my core, my desires, my actions, nor my life, for that matter. Did it matter how many nice thoughts I put out into the universe if I remained a self-centered prick? Did it matter how many “selfless” thoughts and deeds I…

— Michael J Heil

“We live in a world full of contracts. When someone fails to meet the outlined terms of the contract, we seek a better suitor. When the agreement stops benefitting us, we cancel it. God’s love is different, it’s a covenant. With covenants, there are no exit clauses, there are no grounds for termination of the agreement. Once you enter the…

— Michael J Heil

“Perhaps life’s simplest and most frequent mistake is to take who we are for granted in our anxious anticipation of who we might be. He loves us as we are. Why can we not rejoice in that love? Can you imagine, for a moment, what would happen if we were to stop trying to find love in all the wrong…

— Michael J Heil