Christians ought to worship God as He reveals Himself, not according to our own imagination.

The second commandment forbids more than carved idols. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (Exodus 20:4). It also warns against shaping God into whatever image suits us. When we build a version of God from our own preferences — trimming out what we dislike, keeping or adding what feels comfortable — we are not worshipping the real God. We are worshipping an idol with His name on it.

Editing God Is Still Idolatry

No one today carves a golden calf. But the instinct has not gone away — we just do it discreetly. It could be a god who only affirms and never confronts, who loves but does not judge. It is a god reduced to “the universe”, waiting for you to join it. Or one who extends his grace to everyone whether they repent or not. Very commonly, he is a god shaped by culture instead of the Bible.

The materials changed. The sin did not. Whenever we worship the real God, we submit to who He is — not who we would prefer Him to be.

Know Him As He Has Revealed Himself

We will not grasp God exhaustively (Romans 11:33). But we are definitely not left guessing. He has revealed Himself in Scripture, and the fundamentals are clear:

• Triune — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
• Spirit — not confined to an image (John 4:24).
• Love — 1 John 4:8 says God is love, not merely loving.
• Truth — Jesus declared Himself “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
• Just — “A God of faithfulness and without injustice” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

(Songs filled my mind with each of the above attributes of God.)

Held together, these are not competing traits to balance—they all point to one God, fully consistent with Himself.

Worship in Spirit and in Truth

At the well, Jesus told the Samaritan woman that true worshippers “worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Her culture had built an entire worship system on tradition rather than revelation — sincere, but misdirected. Genuine worship needs both: spirit, real engagement with the living God; and truth, worship that matches who He actually is.

Get God Right, Then Worship Him Fully

Before we ask, “How do I worship better?”, we should ask, “Who exactly am I worshipping?” The real God — Father, Son, and Spirit; Spirit, love, truth, and justice — is worth knowing accurately and trusting completely.

I invite you to say this prayer.
Father, forgive us for the ways we have shaped You into who we wanted You to be. Strip away every false image we have carried, and show us who You truly are — Father, Son, and Spirit; holy, loving, true, and just. Teach us to worship You in spirit and in truth, not as we imagine You, but as You have revealed Yourself. We trust what You have shown us, even where we do not yet understand. In Jesus’ name, Amen.