Lies I Believe About Myself

The very morning after our recent small group study on Lies Women Believe about themselves, I woke up and stepped out on my back patio to enjoy the cool summer air.  The sun had only been up a little while, and when I looked up, I saw workers at the new house that’s been built behind us.  It is near completion, and from the day they broke ground, I have grunted and groaned over the interruption in our country life solitude. I stood there now, thinking about how I need my quiet out on our patio.  Immediately after that thought went through my mind, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the one of the lies we had talked about the night before – it’s the lie that

I have the right to…

That is a lie from Satan because as a believer in Christ, I understand that the only thing  I deserve is hell, and by God’s grace, He rescued me from that and has given me so much more in His kindness.  Do I love my quiet and privacy?  Yes.  Do I deserve my  quiet and privacy?  No.

This study by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth has revealed that that isn’t the only lie about myself that I’ve been believing.   Here are six she suggested. Read on and see if you recognize any in your own thoughts.

1. I am not worth anything. We show we believe this when we allow our value to be determined by others.  A hurtful remark made about our physical features is allowed to govern the way we see ourselves.  We feel the need to be accepted by others and desire their approval.
   The Truth – My value is determned by what God thinks of me – not others.  Psalm 139
2. I can’t help the way I am. If we believe our bad temper has simply been passed down from our family tree, or our weight issues are because “everyone in my family has a struggle losing weight,” we’ve bought into the lie that we can’t do anything about sinful tendencies.
   The Truth – I am responsible for my own choices and I can be changed through the power of the Holy Spirit.  I Cor. 5:17
3. I need to learn to love myself.  We are bombarded with this lie by the world.  We prove we love ourselves by the way we take care of ourselves with food, sleep and relief from pain.  We get our feelings hurt and are touchy because we love ourselves.  If we didn’t care about ourselves, we wouldn’t care so much about being rejected and mistreated.
   The truth – We must learn to deny ourselves, as Christ did.  Our problem is not a low self esteem, it is a low view of God.  Realize how much He loves us! Romans 5:8
4. I have my rights.  When moms demand a little solitude, or a wife feels she has the right to speak her peace, we’re showing our belief in this lie.  From fast food commercials telling  us we can have it our way, to hearing the crowd yell, “we have our rights,” we have been led astray. I heard about a woman who sued the Weather Channel on the local news cast for forecasting the weather incorrectly.  She got rained on when it was supposed to be sunny and got sick.  She won the law suit!!!
   The truth – We must yield all our rights to the One who ultimately holds all rights.  Psalm 37:1-11
5. Physical beauty matters more than inner beauty.  Who hasn’t bought into this lie?  We fret over five pounds, check the mirror for wrinkles, and then worry about getting old, when of course we all are!  We fight looking older and do all we can to keep it from happening.  There’s nothing wrong with looking our best, but we can’t let our looks consume us.  Do we give as much time to the inner man as we do the outer?  Are we as concerned with the lack of spiritual growth as we are with the increase in aging of our bodies? 
   The truth – There has to be a healthy balance between looking our best and not letting it be what drives us. Instead, may we be driven to our knees to become a woman with a meek and quiet spirit which is of great price. I Peter 3:3-5
6. I should not have to live with unfulfilled longings. We want something but can’t affort it?  Charge it.  We hunger for a craving, but we’ve already eaten enough?  We eat it anyway.  We feel unfulfilled in our marriage, so we feel justified in seeking a relationshp outside our marriage.  Not all longings are evil – so why should we have to live without them being fulfilled?
   The Truth – God doesn’t always fulfill our longings right away or sometimes at all.  Why? So we will depend on Him.  That longing can become what drives us to our knees each day to seek His face and help in this desire.  Psalm 34:8-10

Lies about ourselves are painful to identify, but we need to honestly look at what we’re really believing and admit the areas that are lie.  Then when we replace the lies with the Truth, we can enjoy the freedom that no Women’s Rights Activist group could ever give us.  It comes from the great God Who made us and loves us just as we are!

Do you recognize any lies here that you’ve been believing?