Lies I’ve Believed

I’m insecure. There, I said it. I don’t know that a lot of people realize just how much, but even when I try to hide it, stuff it, and fake my way out of it – there it is. I see it. I feel it. Often.

I’ve lived through some dark seasons, and lately the enemy has been bringing back to mind the insecurities of those seasons and the accompanying lies I once believed – the ones I thought I’d defeated once and for all.

He’s a sneaky one, though. He doesn’t give up that easily. Even after years – decades, even – he often still convinces me to repossess the lies I thought I let go of a long time ago.

This year I’ve been asking God to show me what lies I’m believing and help me refute them with the truth. It’s eye-opening, it can bring up old wounds, and a lot of times the lies are really difficult for me to see, because I’ve believed them for so long. But God reminds me of what he sees when he looks at me, and nothing is more reassuring than to hear his perspective. It can be like seeing a bird’s-eye view from a plane after a lifetime on the ground.

These are some of the lies I struggle with most often:

I am unlovable.
FALSE. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

I am not physically attractive.
FALSE. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

People will never see me as anything other than the embarrassing eight-year-old version of me. [Or 12, or 16, or 22…]
FALSE. Lots of people didn’t even know me when I was eight years old. And if they truly don’t believe I’ve matured past the age of eight, it might say more about their maturity level than mine.

People don’t really mean it when they compliment me.
FALSE. If they’re not trying to sell me something, why on earth would they bother to give me a compliment? If they say something nice, THEY PROBABLY MEAN IT.

No one will ever be faithful or loyal to me.
FALSE. God is faithful and always will be.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.

Deuteronomy 7:9

The difficult circumstances I’ve gone through in my life will never be redeemed.
FALSE. God works ALL things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

The dreams God has placed in my heart will never come true.
FALSE. If I delight myself in the Lord, he will give me the desires of my heart.

It’s not going to get any better. My relationships, finances, health, appearance – you name it – have already peaked, and I don’t have much else to look forward to.
FALSE. The best is ALWAYS yet to come.

However, as it is written:
What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived
the things God has prepared for those who love him.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

I have nobody. I’m all alone and there’s no one for me to connect with.
FALSE. God himself is with me and he said in Genesis: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

People think badly of me.
FALSE. Most people don’t think about me at all! Ha! Seriously, though, most people are too busy worrying about what people think of them…isn’t that so true for most of us?

I’ll never find freedom from [insert struggle here].
FALSE. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

I won’t have enough. [Money, time, provisions, whatever.]
FALSE. God is a God who provides.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

I’m not good enough and I’ll never be good enough.
FALSE. In Christ, I am enough.

I don’t have much worth.
FALSE. Jesus DIED for me, and he slapped a pretty hefty price tag on me when he did that.

…To name a few. I could literally go on for hours.

Satan is a liar and he’s a good one! But his accusations, although often very convincing, are NOT TRUE.

This week, ask God to show you any lies you’ve been believing and to replace them with his truth. Maybe the lies you’ve fallen for sound just like mine; maybe they’re totally different. Either way, they’re LIES! And God wants to evict them so there’s room for the truth to inhabit that space.

Be encouraged by God’s truth this week, and go easy on yourself as you face each lie head-on. We’re in this together because I am still very much in the middle of it, but God is faithful to supply each one of us with his truth even when we’ve believed the lies for far too long!

So what lies have you believed for too long? And what’s God’s TRUTH?