The lies we believe

  Maybe I am a slow learner, but I am finally realizing how many lies I have been believing for most of my life. My relationship with God has never been a smooth one, and has been one of many ups and downs. My hidden sexual struggles, my lack of belief that God loves me, my inability to trust God, and more...... they all held me back and tripped me up, and were compounded by the lies the devil told me and that I believed.

 I just read a book that re-emphasized to me the reality of how many lies I have believed. The author himself listed some of the ones I have believed, and it really brought home the truth to me that if I am ever to reach that place of Christian maturity that I feel I haven't reached yet, and if I am ever to have the kind of relationship with God that I long to have; I am going to have to have God help me get past these lies.

  It is a daunting and depressing thought to realize all I may have missed out in life because of the lies I have believed, and of fears that I  have had connected with many of these lies.

  Satan is the father of lies, and he has that title because he is so good at it. I am tired of being held back, tired of living in fear, and tired of feeling like I still have chains even though I am forgiven and am serving God. I know what some of the lies are, but some of them may only be know to me by God revealing them to me. Lies like:

1) No one likes you.

2) You're stupid

3) You're a failure

4) God doesn't love you

5) If people found out your secret struggle, they'd run from you and you'd have no friends.

6) You aren't like other guys, and no guy would ever want to be your friend

7) You're worthless

8) You're a failure

9) You aren't good at anything

10) You're doomed to hell for just having the attractions you have

11) You'll never be happy

12) People only pretend to like you

13) God may forgive you, but He does so reluctantly and can't wait for you to mess up

14) You can never have the kind of relationship with God that others have

15) You're defective, and people can see it

16) You have nothing to offer in a friendship

17) You're boring

18) You're ugly

19) God will like you better if you keep all the rules

20) You're going to hell in the end no matter how hard you try to please God

21) You'll never amount to anything

22) You'll never have a decent job, but only dead end and low paying jobs

23) You're  not a real man and never will be

  And those are the ones I am aware of. Just imagine what kind of lives we could live, what God could accomplish through us if it were not for the lies we believe.

  I look at that list of 23 things I put down, and realize how much those lies have held me back from being everything I should be, from making friends, trying new things, having a better job, being used of God, and having the kind of relationship with God that it seems only "super Christians" have.

  If you could sum up all of the lies I believe, it comes down to a couple of things:

1) A lack of trust in God

2) Fear

   Because of the lies Satan has fed me and convinced me of, I have missed out on so much. I am a Christian, yet I am not truly free. I am free from sin, but I am still in chains of fear, insecurity, and more.

  I don't believe it is Biblical that God can only set us free from sin. If His Word is true - and it is - He can also set us free from fears, insecurity, lies, and anything else that holds us back and keeps us captive in any way.

 I made no New Year's resolutions, though I do have a mental list of things I want to work on this year.... and this is one of them: To pray for God to show me all of the lies I have believed, and to help me see the truth. If I - and other Christians - could break free from the chains that lies have forged. only God knows what could be accomplished for Him; and only God knows what kind of people we could turn out to be.