There is a golden rule of spirituality.  It is this: You become like what you worship.

Worship is defined as “seeing the worth of something or someone and responding to that worth.”  The problem is, sometimes my worship is misdirected.  Does it happen to you?  You see things as being much more valuable than they actually are, so you gaze at them in admiration.  When you set our gaze on that person or that thing; when you stand in awe of it,  you begin to take on the character of that person or object.

For example, those who worship money eventually become calculating machines, measuring everything in terms of it’s cost.  Those who worship sex become obsessed with how their own vanity and sexual prowess.  Those who worship power become more and more ruthless.

There is, however, another golden rule of spirituality – worship makes you more truly human. When your worship is properly directed to God (the only one worthy of our worship) you begin to take on His character.  You become more compassionate, loving, discerning.  You gain new perspective.  You see the world in a new light.  You see the reality of the kingdom of God.  In realizing these things you become more alive, aware that God is creator and rescuer of the world.  So whether it comes through a sermon or a song or a moment of prayer, all of the sudden you are caught up in worship because you see God for who He really is.  In those moments, you feel more alive, more human.

Conversely, when your worship is misdirected, you become less human.  Listen to this quote from N.T. Wright:

…when you worship an idol – you may feel a brief “high.”  But, like a hallucinatory drug, that worship achieves its effect at a cost: when the effect is over, you are less of a human being than you were to begin with.  That is the price of idolatry.

I encourage you to take a honest look at your life.  Are you worshipping something other than God?  Has God been replaced by something deemed more important?  Or are you worshipping God and continually being shaped by Him?