The Lies We Believe: Part 2

faith mental health relationships Sep 16, 2023

The Lies We Believe: Part 2

(5 minute read)
By Bethany Rees

In the Lies We Believe Part 1 we learned about several of the lies that we tend to believe: “He doesn’t love me.” “They don’t respect me.” “They just don’t get me.” “That’s just the way it is.” “That’s just who I am.” “That’s what I/he deserve(s).”

And those lies destroy! They destroy trust, cause deep hurt, and can end relationships. In part 2, we’ll talk about where those lies come from and how to remove them from our lives.

The Deceiver

We are in fact in the middle of a spiritual warfare and we have been warned about our enemy, the devil.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ~ 1 Peter 5:8 NIV

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” ~ John 8:44 ESV

The devil loves to deceive and twist the truth to confuse us, to keep us in chaos.

When we are in chaos it is hard to see and think clearly. We easily lose our way and can be found turning away from God in our confusion.

And the devil’s lies can stick with us.

We allow these lying thoughts to form our thought habits, our self talk, our beliefs, and our actions. They always pull us further away from God and that’s exactly where the devil wants us. Alone, isolated, and wrapped up in the web of lies that keep us there.

These lies capture our thoughts and never let go. As Jennie Allen says in her book Get out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts, these are our “sticky thoughts”:

“Satan knows that we are what we think - so if we are believing things that are not true about us, then we are believing what the devil wants us to believe instead of what God wants us to believe.

You probably know what that one most recurring thought is for you, the one sticky thought that more than any other informs your other thoughts and, yes, your actions.”

What lies are you believing about yourself that are affecting your relationship with God, your identity, your relationships with others, etc?

To find out, you’ll need to dig deep. You’ll need to spend a lot of time peeling back the layers of your own “onion” to find the heart of the lie deep inside of you. And you should expect a lot of crying in this process; you are peeling a metaphorical onion after all.

Ask God

As you go about this week, sit with God. Ask Him to expose any lies you have been believing and living out.

Sure you could try to analyze your own thoughts, but without God you will struggle to identify which thoughts are lies and which are truths. The only way to truly differentiate the lies from truth is to go to God. Fight to clear your schedule and clear your mind. (Quieting my mind is the hardest part because my own voice and opinions are so loud.)

But work to sit still with no distractions (sit in the bathroom if you have to). Read scripture and a great place to start is with Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~ Romans 12:2 ESV

Read it again and again. Ask God to expose the lie and reveal His truth and then listen.

But don’t let me fool you. Just like addicts, once we confess the lie we’ve been living it doesn’t mean our desire to stay in that lie goes away. We must daily take our minds and our lives to the cross and die to our fleshly desires daily.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ~ Luke 9:23

The lie I believed in was “there is a perfect plan, checklist, and system that I can follow to get rid of chaos and ensure success.” It affected my identity (increased my self reliance and decreased God’s presence), my relationships (my anxiety and stress made me a bear to live with), and my quality of life (I couldn’t find peace and joy). The lie I believed only brought me selfishness and anxiety in all circumstances and robbed me of God’s good gifts with just two being peace and joy no matter the circumstance.

It has taken me 34 years to peel away only the top layers of my own onion to find one source of my angst and my battle with God for control. I have been snared by the lie that:

“I don’t necessarily need God in all situations because I am armed with a good plan backed up by research and best practices. These along with my natural gifts for organization, I can solve the problem and save God the time and trouble.”

LIE!

And that’s just one lie I’ve believed most of my life. Well, I see how you have snared me, you devil, and in the name of Jesus I rebuke you.

But I am so thankful I serve a loving God who like the father of the prodigal son welcomed me back with open arms once I exposed the lie I had been living. After having sat in my own pig pen of messes God has welcomed me home.

So once you and I finally see the lies we’ve been believing, what’s next?

What are our next steps now that God has revealed to us the truth (in my case that I’ve been doing the “right things” for the “wrong reasons”)?

Our next step is to take things thought by thought and day by day.

I’ve been living by “the plan” and fighting God for control my whole life so I know I probably won’t change overnight. But I know I am “a new creation” in him so I need to truly make God a priority in my thought life and not a “to do” item on my checklist.

Just like our earthly relationships, quality time is required to grow an in-depth relationship. So I am working to slow my brain. Sit still with God and I’m beginning by begging God to renew my mind and my thought life DAILY.

Focus on God’s truth.

Find the one scripture that helps you remember God’s truth and memorize it. When you feel pulled back into the lie that “you are unworthy,” “you don’t deserve love,” or “the perfect plan is all you need to take control and fix your problems” say that verse. Remember that Satan is a liar and speaks condemnation. God is truth and speaks in and through love, mercy, and grace.

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Remember God’s Truth.

Rocks Before Sand!

Scripture:

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

~John 8:44 ESV

Theme Song: The Devil is a Liar! By We Are Messengers

References used:

Allen. Jennie. Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts. Waterbrook. 2021.

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