Most of us are suffering the consequences of believing lies. Those consequences include broken relationships, fear, depression, self-loathing, and guilt, to name a few.
The results of believing a lie can be as numerous as the kinds of lies one can believe. But if there is a single word that sums up the results of believing any lie, it would be bondage.
Enslaved by Lies
Are there any areas of bondage in your life? You’re in bondage if you can’t seem to break free from harmful emotions or sinful patterns in your life. Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34, ESV). You’re in bondage if there is some consuming area of your life that you can’t stop thinking about—like food, a guy, or your appearance. “For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:19).
Maybe you’re in bondage to your past, and you don’t feel free to be used by God. Maybe you are in bondage to your body image and are not free to enjoy food in the way God intended. Maybe you’re in bondage to spending hour upon hour engrossed in the Internet or text messaging and are not free to be in solitude. Maybe you’re in bondage to a performance-based faith and are not free to enjoy God, period. Maybe you are in bondage to worry, fear, anger, depression, or self-pity.
We want you to know that you are not alone. Many other women have been there. We’ve been there ourselves. However, we, along with countless others, have learned how to find freedom from the lies Satan throws our way.
The Way of Freedom
True freedom is found in a vital, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus (the living Word of God) has revealed Himself in Scripture (the written Word of God). If we want to know Him, we must devote ourselves to reading, study, and meditation on the written Word. There is no substitute and there are no shortcuts. The Enemy is constantly confronting us with his us with his lies. In order his deception, our minds and hearts must be filled with the Lord Jesus and saturated with His Word.
But it’s not enough just to know the Truth. We must also surrender to it. That means we must be willing to change our thinking and our life-style in any area that is inconsistent with the Truth as it is revealed in the Word of God.
Millions of teens who claim to be Christians and are active in their youth groups are nonetheless deceived; they are walking in ways that are not biblical. Their values, their responses, their relationships, their choices, and their priorities reveal that they have bought into the lies of the Enemy and have embraced the world’s way of thinking.
Living according to the Truth requires a conscious choice to reject deception and to embrace the Truth. That is why one psalmist prayed, “Keep me from deceitful ways. . . . I have chosen the way of truth” (Psalm 119:29-30, NIV).
The Choice to Live Free
Would you ask God to deliver you and keep you from any lies that may have lodged in your mind and heart? And would you purpose in your heart to choose “the way of truth”? That will not always be easy—at times it will be really hard, in fact. But the way of Truth is the way of blessing and joy.
- Our hearts plead with God to rescue you from the lies of this world.
- We want you to embrace life— His life in you—to the fullest!
- We want you enjoy the freedom He came to give you.
- We want your life to fulfill every purpose for which He created you.
And we want to see God use your life to help others in your generation—and the next—experience the great freedom and joy of walking in the Truth!
Making it personal
Can you identify any lies that have taken hold in your heart and mind? How have they influenced your values, relationships, and behaviors? Ask God to deliver you from those lies and then purpose to walk in Truth.
© Revive Our Hearts. Adapted from Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh. Used with permission. Available at www.store.ReviveOurHearts.comInfo@ReviveOurHearts.com