As I’ve been reading through John and Stasi Edlredge’s book Captivating this month, the theme that has continued to jump out at me has been, “What lies are you believing?” The authors write about how our past (particularly the painful parts) continue to hurt us, how it speaks messages to us that are not true, how it hinders the work of God in our lives when we do not let it go and move on with our lives. In their own words, on pages 100-101, they write, “Your wounds brought messages with them. Lots of messages. Somehow they all usually land in the same place. They had a similar theme. ‘You’re worthless’ … ‘You’re too much … and not enough.’ ‘You’re a disappointment.’ ‘You are repulsive.’ On and on they go … They pierced our hearts, and they seemed so true. So we accepted the message as fact. We embraced it as the verdict on us” and lived in bondage to that verdict, whether or not it was an accurate one. Of course it is this way. Sin began this way – causing Eve to doubt how valued she was by God and her husband, causing her to feel as though they were holding out on her, keeping back something good that they didn’t feel she deserved to partake of. The enemy played off her sense of self-consciousness, her insecurity when it came to understanding her value in the Kingdom as she was. He made her feel as though she was not good enough as she was, that she needed something more to be valuable, to be powerful, to be better than she was. And somehow, the enemy has continued to use this tactic over and over and over again without people recognizing and calling him out on it. With Cain, for example, who, instead of listening to God Most High’s warning in Genesis 4:5-7, viewed his offering’s rejection as a reflection on his person, that God had rejected him on some level. God never said that. In fact, God comes to Cain as a loving Father, inquiring into his pain, telling him how to restore fellowship with Him (that’s what He wants!), telling him to be careful, that the lies of the enemy that lead to sin are waiting to attack him, to latch on to him, and to drag him down – but Cain had already internalized the lie, that he simply wasn’t good enough. This lie was what drove him to take his brother’s life out of anger and vengeance. And so I’ve been pondering all week – what lies am I believing? Even at the Bible study we host in our home, this theme came up. One of the girls has started a list of things in her journal, a list of things she believes about herself that she is taking to God to see if it’s Holy Spirit conviction on areas she needs to change, or the enemy’s lies to hold her back and cripple her in her walk with God and other people.
Why do we believe the lies anyway? We know that, as Proverbs 30:5 (NCV) says, “Every word of God is true” – and He tells us all about ourselves. He promises us all kinds of things throughout the Bible, tells us about how He sees us, about how valuable we are to Him – so why do we believe the lies? Do we just not know what God has to say about us? That may be a part of it, but I believe it has something to do with John 8:44-45, as well. In these verses, Jesus says (Living Bible), “For you are children of your father the devil and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and a hater of truth – there is not an iota of truth in him. When he lies, it is perfectly normal; for he is the father of liars. And so when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe it!” In our culture, we seem to have become too well accustomed to the voice of the devil, have become so used to being lied to and deceived that we construct walls around our hearts, not allowing anything to sink it, lest it prove to be another lie. We guard ourselves so much that we do not even allow God’s truth to sink into the deep places of our hearts. It is like Romans 1:25 says, our nation has spent its time, “choosing a foolish lie over God’s truth” (Voice). How have we done that?
Look at the following examples and see if you can’t see how you’ve bought the lies of the enemy. Too many of us believe:
- We can’t do anything right – even though Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
- That to be truly beautiful, one must be thin with perfect skin, and perfect hair – when God’s word tells us that true beauty “expresses itself in a gentle and quiet attitude which God considers precious” (1 Peter 3:4, God’s Word Translation).
- That we will be alone the rest of our lives – when God’s word tells us that He puts the lonely in families (Ps. 68:6) and that the godly all around us make terrific friends (Ps. 16:3, MSG).
- That we could never do great things for Christ – when 1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us that nothing we do for the Lord is ever in vain.
And these are just a few! This is not how God wants us to live our lives! Like He said to Cain, I believe God is warning us that when we allow our hurts to fester and to give us messages about our lives, sin is waiting at the door to attack us, to defeat us, and drag us down. I believe that God is warning us against accepting the lies of the enemy and wanting us to turn to Him for the truth, to trust Him more than our next breath. He has never let us down, and it is only from Him that we should gain our sense of who we are and what we are worth – turning to any other source will undoubtedly fill us with lies, will open us up to hurts and wounds that will lead us astray. His word should be our solace, our refuge, the place we turn to for answers to our hearts’ deepest questions. I encourage you to sit down this week and pray about the lies you’ve been accepting and living with, and ask God to help you break free of their power … I know I will.
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