Lies

"for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"

2 Corinthians 5:4-5 (NASB)

What we believe about ourselves is often foundational to who we are as people.  Some of the things we believe about ourselves are true, but some of the things that we have believed as true are actually lies.  The amazing thing is that because God is truth, through Him, we can have an accurate view of who we are in Him.  Apart from Him it's easy to confuse the truth of God for a lie.  

There are a lot of profound things about living life in light of who God says we are, but today I want to zero in on something that I've been learning about lately: the lies we believe.  Lies eat away at relationships the same way Dawn dish soap melts the grease on a gunky sheet pan.  What an analogy. I’m currently reading a book that ascribes the lies mentioned in the scripture above as the high-level strategy of the enemy to disrupt us from fully and freely walking out the destiny that God has for us in this life, and contrasts it with the truth that God speaks about us. 

One of the words in 2 Corinthians 5:4-5 that sticks out to me is the word speculation. The definition of speculation is, “the forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence.” In some ways you can describe this as a lie or a lofty thing raised up against knowledge. 

I believe that the enemy is constantly trying to keep us from experiencing the fullness of God and one of the strategies that he uses is to get us to believe things that are not true. They may sound true and have truth in them but as a whole, they are not true. Often times these are things we believe about ourselves which can have an influence on our decision-making over time.

For example, recently we were on a family walk and Nicole wasn’t listening well. We asked her to stay seated in her stroller and she continued to stand up. As I pushed the stroller along, Nicole looked at me at said, “I’m not a good listener.” It maybe seems like she was finally acknowledging her wrongdoing, but my heart recognized her statement as the speculation the enemy intended it to be.   Because I heard her statement for what it was I was able to dismiss the parts of it that weren't true.  I told Nicole that it was not true and that she was a bad listener. Instead, I told her, she just made the choice to not listen in that moment. 

Had I affirmed her statement I could have embedded the idea that she was, in fact, a bad listener in her indefinitely.  It seemed true in the moment, so it would be easy for that lie to take root with just a little affirmation on my part.   This may seem inconsequential but hear me out for a minute.  Nicole would have heard her dad tell her that she was not a good listener.  Once she accepted that lie as truth,  she could carry that into every decision that she had to make from that day forward. You can imagine a little three-year-old mind playing in the living room, hearing mom or dad ask her to do something and she could, in the cover of the lie, decided not to listen because her parents said that she’s not a good listener so why obey now.

Fast-forward to the teenage years and all of the years in between where she would make decisions based on that lie. All of a sudden she could be making decision from a place rooted in a lie and who knows how that could end up. And that’s just one lie. 

What about when she becomes an adult, a wife, and a mom and she was still living out of that lie (or other lies that grew out of that lie). How much harder would her life be?

I understand how this could sound overly dramatic but that's kind of the point.  One of the reasons lies take root is because we don't believe they are there or that they can affect us.  By the grace of God I heard Nicole's statement for what it was; a speculative idea planted by the enemy so that it would take root as a lie.  I was able to stop the lie in its tracks and correct it with truth. I got to encourage her and let her know that she is a good listener. I reminded her of the times when she did listen and how she even corrected her choice right there in the stroller to listen and sit down. 

I share this today because there is so much freedom in seeing yourself in light of who God is and allowing Him to illuminate the lies you have been believing about yourself.  I encourage you to ask the Lord if there are any lies that you are believing and then ask Him to replace them with His truth.  2 Corinthians 5:4-5 says that through our faith in Christ we have the power to destroy these lies. Its time to start destroying the things that don’t belong.  

See you later lies.

Shawn

"for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"

2 Corinthians 5:4-5 (NASB)