How Lies Affect Our Spiritual Growth
What do you believe about God? About yourself? About others? Not what do you say you believe on paper, but what do you live out? What we live out is what we truly believe.
As we’re working through the process of getting unstuck in our walks with Jesus, we’re looking for the lie at the root of our chronic issues. I have found in my own life that when I’m struggling with something and just can’t seem to find victory, it’s because there’s a lie at the root of it that I’m believing.
Why is that the cause? How do I know it’s a lie?
Because we were designed to live according to the truth in God’s Word. He designed us, the world, and everything in it. Just as a lawnmower works best when it’s cutting grass, not removing snow, our lives work best when we’re living the way God designed us to live. That design is based on truth - the truth of who God is, who we are, and how He interacts with us. When we don’t believe that truth, it works its way through our lives and affects our thoughts, feelings, then our actions.
What sorts of lies do we tend to believe?
Lies come in all shapes and sizes, but there are some basic, popular ones that seem to surface a lot.
Lies about God…
God is impotent and/or not involved in my life.
God doesn’t love me.
God doesn’t judge sin.
God doesn’t forgive me.
Lies about ourselves…
My worth, value, and God’s love for me are based on my performance, success, or accomplishments.
I am inherently good. (So is every other person)
My personal life and my spiritual life are separate and don’t affect each other.
I don’t have anything positive to offer.
I must be in control of everything (and everyone) in my orbit at all times.
Some of those things may seem contradictory - is it true that God loves us, but He also judges sin? Absolutely! God’s love for us doesn’t mean that He doesn’t take our sin seriously. Sometimes the lie we believe is that loving someone means ignoring their sin. Not true! Or we might believe that love and healthy boundaries don’t coexist. If I love someone, then I should let them do whatever they want to me. (No!!)
The truth that we are inherently sinful can seem to contradict the truth that we are made in the image of God and have something positive to contribute to the world. We all ARE inherently sinful, but still made in the image of God. In Christ, we are forgiven of our sin and are made into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). God has prepared good works for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
Many of the lies we believe stem from our understanding of God’s character and how He interacts with us. Much of our understanding and assumptions about God’s character are formed by our experiences with our earthly father. If you struggle in these areas, take some time to look at what you learned from your father. Not only things he explicitly taught you, but also the unspoken lessons you learned from watching his life and how he interacted with you and others.
What did you learn about your value as a person?
… about consequences?
… love?
… safety and security?
… justice?
No earthly father is perfect, whether you grew up in a godly, Christian home or not. It’s helpful to look at what we learned from our fathers, not for the purpose of being critical and condemning, but to better understand ourselves and what we struggle with. Forgiving our fathers for falling short in whatever ways they did helps to free us and is an important step in healing and growing in our walks with Jesus.
How about you? What did you learn about the character of God from your earthly father, whether true or false?