Don't Believe the Lies
Have you ever noticed that often you can be your own worst critic? Has someone given you a compliment and you find it nearly impossible to believe? I think we all have at least one critical lie that plays in our mind like a broken record. Or we have at least at some point.
We can be so hard on ourselves and put ourselves down. There’s a lot of reasons for this. From a very young age we receive messages from other people and have experiences in our life that plant seeds of doubt. Unfortunately, sometimes even from those closest to us…like parents.
Seeds are often planted early, and these things build up over time. There seems to be patterns and we take a lie like, "Nobody wants to be around me” as our absolute truth. This is something that Satan loves. He is the trickiest liar of all and this is one of his main strategies. He is always looking for ways to build up those doubts in us. We take the lies in and it becomes a part of us. Of who we are.
The Good News
We don’t have to keep playing along! There will be many many messages given to us in our life that just are not true. But we can choose to believe a different story…the truth of who we really are. And whether you believe it or not, it is God who knows you best, even better than you know yourself. He created you after all!
God created you in his own image (Genesis 1:27.) God even knows how many hairs are on your head (Matthew 10:30.) Last I checked that’s kind of impossible for us to figure out (Unless you’re bald. ;) He knew us before he formed us in our mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5.) God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children - this was his pleasure and purpose (Ephesians 1:5.) Did you catch that? It is his pleasure that we would become his sons and daughters. He wants to adopt us into his family! Every one of us! That means you!
“Who me? Maybe you, but there’s no way he’d want me!” That is a straight up lie! Even if every person in your life has let you down… GOD IS DIFFERENT! He is not like any person. His love is abundant and perfect. His view of you is better than the best view of yourself that you can possibly imagine. The plans he has for your life would blow your mind. Yes, you. And that is why He is the one you want to listen to. That is why what he says trumps every other thought or view you or others have had of you.
Where to go from here? How can we discredit and dispose of the lies we’ve believed for so many years? How can we redefine who we are in our minds and hearts? I’m not going to lie. There’s not always a quick fix. It takes time. It’s a process like so many things in life. But it is possible, and it is definitely worth it! More good news… we don’t have to do it alone.
Before His death, Jesus told His disciples that He would not leave them alone. "And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever" (John 14:16). This "Comforter," Jesus said, would guide the disciples into "all truth" (“...when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13)
The Holy Spirit is here to help! We don’t have to overpower a lifetime of negativity and doubt on our own. When we believe in Jesus and choose to follow him, buried with him in baptism and raised to new life, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Living and most powerful being ever…GOD… lives in us.
Some practical steps:
Find a scripture that speaks truth combating this lie. Write it down on a card or put it on your phone’s lock screen. Somewhere that you will see each day. Speak the verse out loud every day.
Ask God for his perspective. Be honest with him and share your struggle with this lie. Ask him what he thinks. A question like, “I want to believe what you say. How do you see me, God?” Wait and listen to hear what he says. Write it down! Always make sure that what you heard is not contradicted in the Bible. Write it down and speak it out loud every day.
Ask the Holy Spirit for help. When that thought is playing in your mind, ask the Holy Spirit to remove it in Jesus’ name. Replace it with truth from God.
