Tell Little Lies to Bug Off

It’s summer. Can’t you tell? My morning run starts with bug spray and ends with anti-inch medication.

Biting insects take chunks out of my skin, and irritating as they can be, the bites heal in a few days. Other pests aren’t so easy to ward off, and I’m not talking about ones with wings and stingers.

More dangerous are the ones that penetrate our thoughts and convince us to believe lies about ourselves.

A few weeks back, I moved, and to make a long story short, am now able to serve in my church’s youth group again. My small group is finishing up the Demoss/Gresh study on Lies Young Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free. 

Last week, our assignment was to answer these questions and be ready to share:

1. What is one area where I struggle to think truthfully?
2. What are one or more specific lies I’ve been believing?
3. What do I need to do now?

I wrote the questions on a note card in my Bible and thought them through on my drive home. Sometimes, teens think their leaders have life all figured out, but the truth is, we need Jesus and His guidance every day too. We need forgiveness for our failures and strength to press on.

So here I go. These are my answers to those tough questions.

1. Self-worth
2. Lie: My identity comes from an ideal set of circumstances, and if I fail to achieve those dreams, I am therefore a failure.
3. I need to remember that I am more than both my accomplishments and my failures. My real identity is that I’m a daughter of grace and a child of the King.

Sometimes, lies become so ingrained in our thinking that we can’t tell them apart from reality. Or perhaps we’ve grown so comfortable with them that they no longer bug our consciences. Maybe we’re embarrassed to admit that we’ve been believing them.

I love what Jesus tells his followers in John 8:31-32.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV)

Lies ensnare us, but truth frees us. Click to Tweet.

In order to enjoy fellowship with the Lord and live in the light of His truth, we have a responsibility. Did you catch the condition?

If you abide in my Word…

The only way we can defeat falsehood is to combat it with truth from God’s Word. And the only way we can do that is to spend time daily with Him.

Next to the chair where I have my morning devotions is a picture that reads: In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus.

Yes, praise the Lord that His mercies are new each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 says:

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. (NKJV)

Now, it’s your turn. I’m passing this assignment onto you. How would you answer the above questions?

What area of your life do you need God’s truth to penetrate and expose the lie(s) you’ve been believing?  What truth from God’s Word can set you free?

~ Kristen

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Tell Little Lies to Bug Off – Let go of the lies we believe and embrace the truth that frees us. Click to Tweet.