My Mom didn’t ask my little brother anything, but he looked up at her and said: “I didn’t take any chocolate chip cookies, Mom.” The telltale chocolate smears across his face told a different story. He sold himself out before she even noticed any cookies were missing. I can just imagine his little boy brain trying to throw mom off the trail of the missing cookies by just letting her know he was definitely not a suspect before she even began her investigation. But his little lie made it clear that there were indeed cookies missing, and the perpetrator was standing about waist high right in front of her.
Lies are loud aren’t they?
When people feel guilty and are backed up in a corner, they shout out these lies in an attempt to take the finger that is pointing at them and turn it on any other easy target. Any Christian should know this first hand, because the enemy of our souls is the biggest liar of all and sometimes the loudest. The Bible actually says about Satan: “When he lies, he speaks in his native language, because he is the father of lies” (John 8:44). If he is the father of lies, than we can know that any lie we believe about ourselves has come completely from him. He has lies that he wants all of us to believe, because if we believe what he tells us about who we are and what God has for us, it makes it harder to believe the truth God speaks to us.
While lies may be different for men and women, some of them may sound like this: “You’re not beautiful, you are not loved, you are a bad mom/dad, you are a bad wife/husband, you’re fat, you’re broken, you’re unwanted, you’re not a good provider, you don’t have anything to offer, you are alone.” Do any of those sound familiar to you? Have they been wedged into your heart so much that they are hard to ignore? While the enemy is the father of lies, some of these phrases may be delivered to us via our parents, former teachers, bullies or significant others. It matters little how they were spoken to us. What matters is how we have let them stick and define who we think we are because of them.
It is so much easier to recall the negative things that have been said to us. I’m sure you can think of something awful that was said to you, but if I told you to try to recall a compliment that was given to you, it might take a few more seconds for you to think of one. Lies are loud, and often times the truth is quiet. God whispers to us everyday: “I love you, you are beautiful, you are enough, you were made in My image, I have good plans for you, I am with you.” At the same time, the enemy is shouting at you, trying to draw you back to believing his lies. If the Devil can keep you wallowing in the sorrow that comes when you believe his lies, he can successfully keep you away from God.
But God, who loves you so much, has provided you with a weapon against the enemy’s attacks…the truth!
For every lie the enemy speaks about you, there is a truth in God’s Word to counteract it. I encourage you to think of a specific lie that runs in your mind constantly, especially when you are weak. Take that lie, and look up the antonym for that word, then go search in the Bible for the truth that debunks that lie. Here are a few to get you started:
1. Lie: Nobody loves you.
Truth: He loves us so much that even when we were against Him, Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8)
2. Lie: I am alone.
Truth: God tell us not to fear or be dismayed because He is with us, He will make us strong and even hold us. (Isaiah 41:10)
3. Lie: You have no future.
Truth: God has BIG plans for us, plans that will be good and will lead us to a bright future and fill us with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
So you see, lies are loud, but the truth of God speaks louder! His truth has not and will never change. The way we feel about ourselves will ALWAYS be subjective to our surroundings and our circumstances, but God’s truth will always remain! No matter what the enemy may try to throw at you, let God’s Word speak for itself. God knows you, loves you, sees you and has plans for you that you wouldn’t even be able to imagine, even if He told you! (Habakkuk 1:5).
