The week my uncle died (read that post HERE, if you missed it) I was talking to my neighbor about how it broke my heart thinking about all the lies he was believing to bring him to the place where he’d want to take his own life. Her response back to me forever changed the way I’ll look at these lies, which is what I want to share with you today.
In her response she said, “at our old church we used to call them ungodly beliefs, instead of lies.” As I thought about her comment and processed it with the Lord the next day, I started to look at the lies differently. God showed me that there are in fact lies but they become our ungodly beliefs.
Lies are what the enemy tells us.
He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 (NIV)
The enemy is always on the prowl, looking for his next victim. He sees our weakness and he knows what lies to tell us to reinforce those weaknesses.
What the Lord showed me is that the lie remains just that, a lie, until we take ownership of it. When the enemy whispers a lie in our ear, we have a choice – we can rebuke the lie and choose not to partner with it, or we can take ownership of it, at which point it becomes an ungodly belief.
As I’ve mentioned before, the enemy is very vocal and repetitive with his lies, which can makes them hard to ignore, but we do have a choice. I know at times it might seem impossible to get rid of the lies swirling around us but the easiest way to not let them settle in and take up residency in our minds, and hearts, is to arm ourselves with the truth.
It is impossible to get rid of our ungodly beliefs, if we don’t know truth.
Truth is the only thing that can combat our ungodly beliefs and it’s the thing you must know about yourself if you want to make it easier to identify the lies.
As I’ve talked to friends and walked through inner healing and deliverance with some of them, there are common lies we all believe. I’ve seen a lot of fear, anger, shame, control and insecurity, so what I want to share with you today is what the Bible has to say about each of these. I want to make it easy for you to see what God has to say on these topics, what the truth is.
Shame
I’ve seen the enemy use shame against so many of my friends and it makes me so angry. The ungodly beliefs they are holding onto keep them trapped in their mistakes from the past, which makes it impossible for them to see what God is trying to do in their lives in the present. Here’s what God has to say about shame –
Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.” Isaiah 61:7 (NIV)
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Psalm 34:4-6 (NIV)
Fear
I have seen fear cripple so many of my friends, and at times I’ve seen it in my own life too. God is always on the move and He is always doing a new thing but when we choose to partner with fear, it’s impossible for us to see what God is doing all around us because we are too consumed by our fears.
Here’s what God has to say about fear –
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” 1 John 4:16, 18 (NIV)
“I cried to God in my distress and He answered me! He freed me from all my fears! Psalm 34:4 (tPt)
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NIV)
Anger
I have seen anger rob so many people of joy. Joy is what the Lord desires for us but when we partner with the ungodly belief of anger, we are blinded by that anger and unable to live in the joy and the fullness the Lord has for us.
Here’s what God has to say about anger –
But Lord, your nurturing love is tender and gentle. You are slow to get angry, yet so swift to show your faithful love. You are full of abounding grace and truth. Bring me to your grace-fountain so that your strength becomes mine.” Psalm 86:15-16 (tPt)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (NIV)
Control
Control is an ugly ungodly belief. It is one I struggled with for most of my life and when I look back I can see how it kept me from so much, how it actually latched onto my insecurities and then used me to push myself further into the darkness. God is all about freedom but when you’re listening to the ungodly belief of control, any freedom feels scary, which means you end up running from the one thing that could actually save you from your ungodly belief.
Here’s what God has to say about control –
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
“But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NLT)
Insecurity
Insecurity, or a lack of knowledge of who we are in the Lord, is one of the enemy’s greatest lies. When we partner with this ungodly belief we are forgetting who we are and that we were created in the image of God himself. I would venture to guess that every person on earth struggles with this ungodly belief because as soon as the enemy can strip us away from knowing our true identity, we are more vulnerable to every other lie he wants to tell us.
Here’s what God has to say about insecurity –
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 (NIV)
“Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:34-39 (NLT)
“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:19-20
We are children of the Living God! That is the truth, truer than any convincing lie the enemy could ever tell you. The problem is that we’ve lost sight of this truth, because we are so weighed down by our ungodly beliefs.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and challenge you to do something. I want you to sit down and write out a list of everything you believe about yourself, whether it be good or bad. If you believe you’re ugly, write that down; if you believe God is mad at you, write that down; write it all down. Before writing this post I spent time with the Lord and He put the song “Freedom Reigns” on my heart, so the next thing I want you to do is pray. I want you to pray and ask God to speak truth to you. Invite the Spirit of the Lord into the room and ask Him to speak truth. I think you’ll be amazed at the truth He speaks to every single one of the ungodly beliefs.
The last thing I want to do is leave you with this passage from Psalm 91 because the Lord highlighted these verses to me the morning I wrote this. It’s a powerful promise that the Lord is always there for us, always fighting for us, we just have to choose to believe the truth instead of taking ownership of the lies.
When we live our lives within the shadow of the God Most High, our secret Hiding Place, we will always be shielded from harm! How then could evil prevail against us, or disease infect us? God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go, defending you from all harm. If you walk into a trap, they’ll be there for you and keep you from stumbling! You’ll even walk unharmed among the fiercest powers of darkness, trampling every one of them beneath your feet! For here is what the Lord has spoken to me: ‘Because you have delighted in me as my great lover, I will greatly protect you. I will set you in a high place, safe and secure before my face. I will answer your cry for help every time you pray and you will find and feel my presence even in your time of pressure and trouble. I will be your glorious Hero and give you a feast! You will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you. For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation.'” Psalm 91:9-16
I just wrote down Psalm 86:15-16 so that I can put it on the mirror and let it soak into my mind this week. “Bring me to your grace fountain so that your strength becomes mine.” Yes, please.