(5 minute read)
By Bethany Rees

Lies! 

Lies suck! 

Lies deceive!

Lies destroy!

They destroy trust, cause deep hurt, and can end relationships. 

Knowing all these things, and having probably experienced most of them, we all naturally want to expose lies and stay away from the liar. Right? 

Unfortunately, there are so many lies that each of us willingly believe and hold on to. Some lies were implied or told to us by our closest loved ones. Here are just a few broad lies we are inclined to believe:

“You’ll never…” or “You can’t…” or “You’re just a…” 

Some lies were developed out of the anxiety that we’ve allowed to have a stronghold in our thought life. 

“But how will…turn out?” “But what if… happens?” “How will I…?

Still some lies come from “stories” we’ve made up about ourselves or other people because “we naturally judge others by their behavior but ourselves by our intentions” (Patterson, et.al) 

“He doesn’t love me.” “They don’t respect me.” “They just don’t get me.”

My friends, we are being deceived and yet we continue to believe the lies. At some point we no longer question their validity and they become such a part of us that we consider them truths. In fact, we have believed these lies so long that they become part of who we are, our story, and our personality. 

When we are not careful in exposing them, most lies can become a part of “who we are” and what we believe. We start to defend them by saying:

“That’s just the way it is.” “That’s just who I am.”  “That’s what I/he deserve(s).” 

Some of you reading this may have deep relationship trauma and hurt that causes you to believe the lie that “I am unworthy,” or “I don’t deserve to be loved.” 

So many children from broken or abusive homes struggle with their identity, trust, and the belief they are worthy or that they deserve love. They carry this lie and pain into their relationships as adults and can struggle to maintain healthy relationships. 

But the truth is all of us are a beloved child of God. Everyone is worthy and is in fact loved by God, even if sinful people make us feel otherwise. 

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1

Some of you may struggle with strong personalities and bad bosses and believe the lie that “I am a powerless victim of my circumstance,” or “I deserve to be mistreated.”

But the truth is we have power in God to overcome our circumstances:  

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

While God may not remove our circumstances, He can and does change us from the inside out so that we can know His will for how to proceed through or away from a dominating person. Here’s a lie a lot of people believe:

“I’m the only one suffering from/with...” 

This lie runs rampant in our youth and continues on into adulthood. We are a society that typically only posts our “best selves” on social media. We don’t post the mess behind our camera filters and therefore the impressionist lie we believe is “look how everyone else's life is perfect while mine is falling apart.”

This is a LIE! All people, and yes even all Christians, suffer from/with something. Whether it’s addiction, mental health issues, abuse, immorality, identity, etc...you are not alone in your struggles. 

But the truth is we all struggle with something and most of us struggle in secret. We hide it away from others and sometimes we try to hide it away from ourselves because we don’t want to confess that we’ve been duped and caught up in a lie. 

God’s truth reminds us to:   

Resist him (the devil), standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:9

I’m here to tell you that you are not alone. At some point we are all pulled into a lie(s) that tries to pull us away from God. Don’t let the fear of “being the only one,” overtake your thoughts because in his song, Christian artist Zach Williams, was right...Fear is a Liar. 

Each lie we believe may be a little different from the next person’s, but no matter the lie you or I believe individually, they all greatly affect our relationship with God and relationships with others. 

And it's time we cast off these lies so we can step into the truth…

God’s truth of who we/they are and what He’s called us to do. 

A great first step for those of us that are blind to the lies we tell and the lies we believe, is to ask God to help us see and to hear!

Ask God to open your heart, eyes, and ears to see/hear the lies you’ve been telling and the lies you’ve been believing. 

He is a good and gracious God and He will reveal the lies to you so you can see the light in areas you thought were all darkness. 

Let God shed light on the dark areas of you and your relationships today by asking Him to expose the lies.

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Expose the Lies.

Rocks Before Sand!

Scripture: 

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

~Ephesians 5:11 ESV

Theme Song: 

Louder Than The Lies by Joel Vaughn

References Used:

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
• Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler. Crucial Conversations. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2012. Print.