Therefore God gave them upon the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:24-25)

We are efficient idol factories. We craft all sorts of things that distract us from our relationship with the Lord, and we pursue them to our detriment. Some of them are overtly dark, like porn and greed, while others are seemingly innocent, like a love of your children or a fun hobby.

What happens when we pursue idols is that we invite the enemy into our camp. 

In Greek mythology, there is a story that is told about the Trojan War. The Greeks were after the independent city of Troy and they came up with a sneaky scheme to infiltrate Troy. The Greeks built a giant wooden horse, and hid men inside. Then the Greek forces retreated, making it appear that they had left. The Trojans then pulled the horse into their city and thus helped the invaders.

This should sound familiar. 

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:6)

My Dad has a million sayings for a million situations, but "it's not what you say, it's how you say it" is among his favorites. Mine, too. 

Let's say you work for someone and your performance is lacking. Your boss is a middle manager, and she must answer to her bosses. Let's say you have been a bit slack in your work, showing up late and missing deadlines. Your boss must now have a conversation with you. Now let's consider two ways your boss might approach you: