Putting Away Strange God's: What's Ruling Your Heart

Genesis 35:2 says, “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments” (KJV). In its original context, the “strange gods” were literal idols and foreign deities that members of Jacob’s household had accumulated. For example, Rachel had earlier taken her father Laban’s household gods (Genesis 31:19). Before Jacob and his family returned to Bethel to worship God, Jacob called his household to a time of cleansing. They had to remove everything connected with idolatry and recommit themselves to the Lord.

For us today, the principle reaches beyond carved statues. A strange god can be anything that takes the place, devotion, trust, obedience, or priority that belongs to God. It is anything that begins to rule our hearts instead of Him. Money, career, success, relationships, possessions, the approval of people, entertainment, social media, political identity, sexual desires, addictions, pride, control, fear, bitterness, and even ministry can become idols. None of these things is automatically an idol, but any of them can become one when it occupies a place in our hearts that belongs to God. We must ask ourselves, “What am I depending on, pursuing, protecting, or obeying more than I am God?”

Put It Away, Be Clean, and Change

Genesis 35 gives us a powerful progression. First, “put away the strange gods”—remove whatever is competing with God. Second, “be clean”—deal with sin, compromise, and spiritual contamination. Third, “change your garments”—outwardly demonstrate that an inward change has taken place.

Then Jacob says in verse 3, “And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God.” The message is not simply, “Get rid of your idols.” It is, “Remove what has taken God’s place so you can return to His presence and worship Him wholeheartedly.”

Before Jacob could go back to Bethel, he had to deal with what had been allowed into his house. In the same way, before God takes us into the next season, He may ask us to identify and remove the things that have quietly taken His place. This connects strongly with 1 John 5:21: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Idolatry did not disappear when people stopped carrying statues. The location of an idol can simply move from the shelf to the heart.

Can Anger Become an Idol?

What happens when someone mistreats you? What happens when you have been lied about, disrespected, betrayed, overlooked, talked about, or treated unfairly? Can anger become an idol? Anger itself is not automatically sinful. It can be a natural response when something is wrong. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be ye angry, and sin not.” Notice that the Bible does not say, “Never be angry.” It says, “Be angry, and sin not.”

The real issue is not always whether anger shows up. The issue is what happens after it arrives. Does anger become your master? Does it control what you think about and what you say? Does it determine how you treat people? Does it rob you of your peace or keep you awake at night replaying what someone did to you?

There is a difference between experiencing anger and allowing it to take up permanent residence in your heart. You can be hurt by what someone has done and still refuse to let that hurt become bitterness. You can acknowledge that someone mistreated you without allowing that person’s actions to control the rest of your life. When anger begins to dominate your thoughts, emotions, decisions, and behavior, it starts occupying a place in your heart that belongs to God.

This is where Genesis 35 becomes deeply relevant. Sometimes the strange god we need to put away is not the person who hurt us, but what that person’s mistreatment produced within us. It may be bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, the need to get even, or the constant desire to prove that we were right and they were wrong. One of the hardest truths to accept is that someone else may be responsible for the wound, but we are still responsible for what we allow to grow inside us because of that wound. This truth does not excuse what the person did or make the behavior acceptable. It simply means we refuse to give another person’s actions authority over our hearts.

Release Your Need for Revenge

Romans 12:19 says, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Sometimes anger becomes an idol when we believe we must personally make someone pay. We may feel that we cannot have peace until the person apologizes, cannot move forward until the person admits what was done, or cannot be happy until everyone knows the truth.

When that happens, our peace becomes dependent upon another person. Bitterness and resentment settle into our hearts, and we surrender control of our emotional well-being to the one who hurt us. Bitterness and resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. God never intended for another person to have that much control over your heart. One of the greatest acts of freedom is being able to say, “What you did was wrong. It hurt me. But I will not allow what you did to determine who I become.”

Jesus demonstrated this freedom on the cross when He prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Their actions wounded His body, but they could not corrupt His heart, change His character, or prevent Him from fulfilling His purpose.

Forgiveness Does Not Eliminate Boundaries

Forgiveness does not mean denial. It does not mean pretending the situation did not hurt or saying that what happened was acceptable. Forgiveness certainly does not mean you must continue giving someone unrestricted access to your life. You can forgive and still establish boundaries. You can forgive and say, “I cannot allow you to continue treating me this way.” You can forgive and distance yourself from destructive behavior. You can also forgive someone while recognizing that trust must be rebuilt.

Christians sometimes confuse forgiveness with access. Jesus loved everyone, but not everyone had the same access to Him. Forgiving someone does not automatically mean restoring the relationship to exactly what it was before the offense occurred.

This distinction is important because some people remain trapped in unhealthy situations because they believe being a Christian means tolerating mistreatment. Scripture does not teach us to become doormats. We can walk in love and still exercise wisdom. We can forgive while maintaining boundaries. We can release bitterness while still confronting wrongdoing.

Examine What Is Happening in Your Heart

When you think about the person who hurt you, what begins to happen inside you? Do you immediately become angry? Do you replay the conversation and imagine what you should have said? Do you think about how you can prove the person wrong? Do you secretly hope something bad happens to that individual?

Those responses may reveal that the offense still has more influence over your heart than you realize. This is where Jacob’s words become personal: “Put away the strange gods.”

Perhaps the strange god is not made of wood or stone. It may be an offense you have carried for years. It may be bitterness you have justified because of how badly someone treated you. It may be anger that began as a reasonable response to injustice but eventually became something that controls you.

There is a difference between anger knocking on the door and giving anger a permanent room in your house. Anger may show up because someone hurt you, but you do not have to let it move in and rearrange the furniture.

Sometimes we must pray, “God, I give You this person. I give You this situation. I give You my need to be vindicated. I give You my anger and my desire to get even. I trust You with justice.”

Ultimately, putting away strange gods is about restoring God to His rightful place in your heart. It is declaring, “God, You are greater than what they did to me. My obedience to You matters more than my desire for revenge. My peace is more valuable than proving my point. My future is too important for me to remain chained to yesterday’s offense.”

Put It Away, Arise, and Go Forward

The question for all of us is this: What am I allowing to rule my heart? Is it God, or is it what someone did to me?

Someone may have mistreated you last week, a month ago, a year ago, five years ago, or even twenty years ago. If that person is still controlling your emotions today, the individual may no longer be physically present, but the offense is still occupying space in your heart.

God may be saying, “It is time to put it away.” He is not saying that what happened did not matter. He is saying that your future matters too much for you to remain bound to it.

After putting away the strange gods, Jacob said, “Let us arise, and go up to Bethel” (Genesis 35:3). First, put it away. Then arise. Then go forward.

Some of us have been asking God to move us forward while we are still holding on to something He told us to put down. Your next step may not be fighting the person who hurt you. It may be freeing your heart from what that person left behind.

Forgive where you need to forgive. Establish boundaries where you need to establish them. Have the difficult conversation if God leads you to do so. But do not allow anger, bitterness, or resentment to become your god. Put it away. Arise. Go forward. What happened to you may be part of your story, but it does not have to control the rest of your story.