NO MORE LIES Part 10: Stop the 'Lie' Cycle

Today is the last installment in this Ten-Part series "No More Lies" and I think it is the biggest lie yet. 

Lie 10: I don't lie. 

Whether in small ways or big ones I have battled with lying my whole life. After all, we live in a broken world whose prince is the father of all lies. 

When I was a kid, if I feared consequence, I lied. If I wanted attention, I lied. If I was ashamed of myself or someone else, I lied. If I forgot my homework, I lied. If I wanted something, I lied. 

My competitive nature did not help this tendency. 

At twelve I was a gangling girl who'd rather play sports than with dolls. One day, at softball practice, I got caught in a lie. I do not know where this lie came from, or why I told such an extravagant or obvious lie, but I did. The other girls were whining about how bad they had it and I had to one up them. So I opened my mouth and out popped a lie so bad I am a little ashamed to tell you. 

I said "My dad was so mad at me once he chased me around the kitchen with a knife." 

NEVER HAPPENED. 

But, I thought it had a sense of flare and was sufficient to be the most dramatic thing said that day. In other words, I topped all the other stories those girls were telling and that meant I had won.  

Except I hadn't. 

When my dad came to pick me up from practice he was surrounded by well-intentioned and extremely concerned parents. As he should of been if what I had said was true... but it wasn't. The shame he must of felt for being lied about was probably completely overshadowed by his righteous anger....or at least I imagine that is how he felt. As a parent myself now, I think that is the least of how I would feel. 

That is the kind of stuff I pulled as a kid. As an adult, those kinds of "whoppers" became less of a problem and were replaced by something more sinister. The little insidious lies that became part of my lore, my "back story" and then those horrible little lies I told myself. 

"It won't matter if you eat this whole bag of chips, you are an adult. You can do what you want." or "What right does your husband have to tell you what to do? You are a grown woman." 

Lies like these mask themselves as "independence" and "individuality", but they are dangerous. When I choose these lies over truth I am choosing death over life. 

Choose Life

"This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Deuteronomy 30-19-20 

I may not be a child of Israel, but I am a child of God, and God never changes. His character and very nature is love and truth. When I lie I am counteracting the very nature of God, which He put on the inside of me when I accepted Christ. 

So how do we stop this cycle? 

The answer is in those verses above. 

1) WE CHOOSE - this is harder than it sounds, but obviously it can be done, or we would not have received free will in the first place. God has always given us the choice. He has always wanted us to choose Him, because He is life. 

2)  LOVE GOD - this means taking the time to get to know Him and spending time lavishing your love on Him. Spend time in prayer and worship. Spend time reading the Word. We are blessed unlike the generations before Christ in that we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. This allows us to know God like never before. By communing with God we love him, but more so we love Him by loving others and sharing His love. 

3) LISTEN TO HIS VOICE- I just touched on this, but it needs to be said again. THE SAME SPIRIT THAT RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD DWELLS IN YOU. There is nothing that you cannot face because the very Spirit of God dwells in you. Life and truth are in your spiritual DNA now. By choosing to listen to the voice of God, we stop listening to the lies of the enemy and the lies we tell ourselves. We become free from them and dependent on God. This is what is called a "Mystery" because in Christ real freedom means complete dependence and surrender to God. 

4) HOLD FAST- The world will bombard you. The enemy will try and shake you. Hold fast. Hold fast the profession of your faith. Stand tall knowing that God is your Father. He is faithful. His love never fails. God may not remove you from your circumstances, but He will give you the strength to get through them. This is  one way to bring God the glory: by doing the hard thing and taking it on the chin in faith.  Knowing that God has our lives in His hands, we can trust and hold fast against any storm or fiery dart that is flung our way. 

Join the Conversation

True Confessions Time: I came clean about one of my lies. What about you? What lie have you told you want to "come clean" about right now? Tell us your story in the comments below.  

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If you liked this you may like the rest of the series. Here are the links for the other posts: 

The Truth is Out There

"Control Freak" 

"The Leap of Faith" 

"Bad Parent"

"Good Christian" 

"Shoulder Meet Chip"

"Good Wifey"

"I'm a Nobody"

"What do You Say?"

No More Lies: Part Two: The Leap of Faith

Photo Credit Creative Commons: Edited by Dayna Bickham

The Leap of Faith

I am standing on the edge of a cliff: it looks too far, and it looks too wide. There is no reason to take the leap here. Perhaps there is another way....an easier way...a way that guarantees success.  Maybe there is a way that does not produce so much fear.... 

So I walk away. I give up. I don't even try. 

Meet lie number two: Sometimes not trying is better than trying and failing. 

For the longest time this was a mantra for me. Then I realized this is victim mentality and I am not a victim in this life. 

I am an overcomer, and as a child of God I am more than a conqueror in Christ. 

So why do I seem to chicken out at the "big" stuff? Why do the "next" things in my life give me pause? 

Because I am human. So are you. So was Joshua. 

Building Courage

Joshua was the protegee of Moses for a very long time. He had heard the promises of God for a new land. He had also been a spy and seen what lay in the land God had for them.   

When Moses died the task of leading a nation was up to him. In Joshua 1 God told Joshua twice "Be strong and of good courage".  Then the people of Israel told him they too believed in him as a leader and encouraged him to "be strong and of good courage". 

Sometimes we need to hear things more than once in order to "get it". God knows how stiff necked and hard headed I can be. But when we do "get it" big things can happen! 

For Joshua, he became so courageous and full of trust in God's ability to see him through anything that he went to battle against five kings at once. At his words (prayer) to God, God made the sun and moon to stand still until the battle was ended and the victory belonged to the children of Israel. 

It is Okay to be Weak

It is a good thing to need help. If we aren't small enough, how will people see the bigness of God? If we are weak, then He is strong. We have to remember that we are vessels for God's glory. How else will He shine through unless we are "cracked pots"? 

Our job is not to get the impossible done, but to rely on the One who made the universe to make the impossible happen and to give Him the glory for it. 

So when it comes time to stand on the edge of the cliff and take a leap of faith, we know this: there is glory in the leaping. Not in the success or the failure. God is the one that gets the glory one way or the other, because if we succeed it was because of Him, and if we fail, He catches us and teaches us what we need for future success. He has us and our futures in his hands. Under His wings will I trust.  

When we fail, we cannot let ourselves become bogged down with condemnation. We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and try again. Not in our own power, but fully trusting in God, because He has made a way when there seems to be no way. 

He is the perfect One in this relationship. If something does not go right, that is not "on" God - that is on us or the enemy. Yet, no matter the situation, there is something to learn and in all things we can be grateful that God is in control and still chose us to begin with. 

"I Knew What I Was Getting Into"

God knew the deal He was making when He chose me. He knew I was weak and broken and He loved me and wanted me anyway. This means I can trust Him with anything because He can see the end from the beginning. He has a plan. His choice of me means my victory in Him. That is the love God has for you and I

I have a video I want you to watch. It is really a song, with the lyrics written out. It is a spontaneous song created in a moment of worship. It is from God to us. I hope you hear the heart of our Father toward His children. Only then can we stop believing the lies and start trusting in Him. 

Join the Conversation

What is one thing you have always wanted to try, but haven't, because you were afraid to try and fail?