Should I Believe The Lies?
Do you ever hear that little voice in your head?
You know, the not-so-nice one whose only goal seems to be to bring you down.
The one that repeats phrases like,
“You’re not good enough” or “No one really cares about you.”
In today’s world, deception is everywhere.
In the news, in our favorite TV shows, and even in the phrases whispered by that little voice.
But this phenomenon is not new.
In fact, the enemy has been trying to deceive us and pull us away from God’s truth since the very beginning of mankind.
A photo of sunshine beaming through a beautiful garden, similar to the Garden of Eden.
In Genesis chapter 3, Satan appears before Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Immediately, this deceitful and cunning creature begins to twist God’s words and commandments.
“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
(Genesis 3:1)
This question may seem innocent enough on the surface, but isn’t that how Satan gets to us most of the time?
He has a way of infiltrating our thoughts and twisting God’s words, blessings, or positive ideas with a more negative spin.
By posing God’s commandment this way, the serpent was filling Eve’s mind with question and doubt.
This type of deceit has been showing up in my life a lot lately.
Satan has been invading my thoughts with statements such as,
“She doesn’t think you are capable.”
“He knows that you cannot accomplish that on your own.”
“There is no way they think you are truly happy.”
He has been trying to twist my perception of how others view me…and it has been working!
In the verse that follows, Eve makes the mistake that we are often guilty of as well.
She replies to Satan.
She allows his lie to be entertained in her mind and thoughts and gives him the opportunity to go even further with his deception.
‘“Of course, we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
(Genesis 3:2-4)
A rotten apple laying on the ground.
Not only did Eve reply, but she replied with untruth.
God never actually said not to touch the tree.
She had heard of God’s commands through Adam and not from God himself, so it seems that part of the message was lost in translation.
This misunderstanding of God’s truth and the attention that she paid to Satan’s lie only gave him an even firmer foothold as he continued to tempt Eve.
I have been guilty of responding as well.
Not with words, but in how I interact with others.
Because of the lies that the enemy has spoken, I find myself falsely believing that people do not see me as independent, capable, smart, or happy because of my blindness.
I have even allowed these thoughts to impact how I interact with others…by being overly guarded and approaching situations with the mindset of, “I need to prove myself.”
When I adopt this mindset, I am allowing Satan to twist God’s true words of “My power works best in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9) to simply say “I am weak.”
In this way, just like Eve, I am responding with untruth. Because incapable and unworthy is far from who God says I am.
We all know how the story of Eve and the serpent ends.
We live the consequences every day as we face sin, pain, and grief.
Thankfully, though, we don’t have to rewrite history.
We do not have to give Satan’s lies power, and we don’t have to believe them.
Because they aren’t true.
So, what can we do?
Two hands clinging to the Bible and holding it up in the air in front of green, bright trees.
The answer is simple… Cling to truth.
In the Bible, we can find contradictions to any of the lies the enemy tells us.
When he makes me feel incapable, I can think, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
When I am feeling alone, I can think, “For He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”” (Hebrews 13:5)
And when I am feeling unworthy, I can turn to this passage from Luke, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7).
Is Satan spreading lies in your life today?
How are you responding?
With words, with actions, with God’s truth?
I challenge you today to take back control of the lies that the enemy is telling you! Untwist those words of deceit and find the truth of God’s words within them.
