A bunch of lies...

Sometimes (ok...most of the time) I would rather just sit on the couch than go be social.  Yesterday was one of those times, but in an effort to make more mom friends at church I badgered myself into attending the first Women's Night against my will...and thank God I did. 

I didn't meet any new moms, but I did get to know one a lot better -- myself.  Through a truly inspired sermon from our pastor, my eyes were opened to some of the lies that I hold to as truth.

Now, as a Christian lady I have read books (and even gifted them to others) about lies women believe -- good books in fact -- and had you asked me yesterday afternoon what lies I fall for, I would have smiled kindly and assured you that I am steeped in truth.  Maybe I should add that one to the list...

Pastor Russ pointed out that all sin is based on one lie or another.  If you go back to Genesis 3, the serpent convinced Adam and Eve that eating of the Tree of Knowledge was better than the Tree of Life -- that knowing good from evil was better than eternal life!  And they believed it, and we all know how well that has turned out.

But I consider myself a fairly smart lady and sitting among those women last night, I was confident at first that this message was for "them" until I learned how to identify my lies -- or more precisely the ideas/beliefs/convictions I cling to in place of God's truth:

1. What do I daydream about?
2. Where do I spend my money?
3. What have I prayed for and not received?
4. What issues/situations cause me uncontrollable emotion?
5. When am I most prone to give advice to others? (aka...where do I feel wise?)

Gradually over the past 12 hours I have realized that smart cookie that I am, I believe a lot of lies and in an effort to face them and exchange them for truth here they are in the order in which they occurred to me:

1. I have to be thin to be worth loving - by myself or anyone else
2. I am "less blessed" than women with lots of kids - Per my unscientific research, the standard number of children in evangelical Christian families is four.  We have one, and based on the fact that he is extremely secure in our love for him but still tells us we are the meanest parents in the world fairly regularly, I believe we are doing a fairly good job -- so clearly, God has just decided to bless us less than all those families with more kids.
3. I don't really have to love my enemies or even my neighbors in spite of what the Bible says -- tolerating them is enough. -  To love them would be to invest myself in their lives, their physical, emotional and especially spiritual health, and that is a lot to ask, right?
4. I'm so much more (or less) mature in my Christian walk than whoever is in front of me - I mean, I read my Bible daily, so I've got this Christian thing down compared to X, but wow, Y just quoted all of Ephesians 2 by memory -- she is so much better than me.
5. It's ok to put myself first - After all God loves me, so do I really need to put His commands to pray without ceasing, hide His Word in my heart, help my husband, raise up my child or love my neighbor ahead of my own comfort, desires, interests, etc?

Yes, I know better for each and every one, but deep down I really do believe them. 

So what now?  Do I stage an intervention with myself, gain 20 pounds and stand in front of the mirror repeating that I love myself?  Do I bake cookies and take them to all the people who annoy me?  Do I become a martyr and never do anything I enjoy so I know that I'm not putting myself first?

Most importantly, do I beat myself up for being so gullible?  No -- after all, Eve was considerably wiser than I am when the serpent tricked her -- she hadn't been degraded by a sin nature and a life of various sins --  yet still she believed that knowledge was more important than life and that God had mislead her.

In truth, I don't really know how eliminate these lies from my life, but I know it's not something I can do by hard work or strength of will or meditation or what have you.  The only cure for lies is truth.

So I will continue to read my Bible and pray to my God who created me, saved me and knows every hair on my head (the red and the white) that He will open my heart to push out these nasty lies and replace them with His truth...and then show me more lies and replace them with more truth...and so forth.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)


In other words,  I will press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)