Don't believe the lie

 Truth has taken a beating in recent years. For the past few years we've heard more about fake news than any of us would want to hear. We've seen both political parties attack each other with outlandish claims. Postmodernism has denied the existence of absolute truth. We now call good evil and evil good because we can no longer tell the difference. However, these outward lies are not the focus of this post. Today, I am more interested in the lies we tell ourselves.

Many of us, including Christians, have a very low opinion of ourselves. We feel we don't measure up, that we are not good enough. I grew up in a time when we had a lot of choose-up baseball games. Two people would be named captain, and they would pick the players for their teams. The same kids were usually chosen last. I doubt that did anything for their self-esteem. For some, it might begin in high school as we doubt that anyone will go to the prom with us. Perhaps we begin to question our worth and our abilities when we see and hear how talented our brothers and sisters are and people start to question if we are really from the same gene pool.

Our thought life will determine the direction our lives will take. If we regularly struggle with negative thoughts about ourselves it will be hard to live a life of abundance and victory. It's hard to believe that God has a purpose for our lives when we see little value in ourselves. A healthy self-esteem is essential if we want to fulfill our purpose in life.

Satan knows this, and this is why he will work hard to fill our minds with negative thoughts. He wants us to doubt our worth and value to God. He wants us to question our abilities so as to limit what we attempt to do. The Bible is clear that his purpose is to "steal, kill and destroy," and he will use every weapon in his arsenal to achieve that. One of his most effective weapons is to control our minds and the thoughts we have about ourselves.

Some of us need to spend time reading the Scriptures to learn what God thinks about us. His Word says we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." It tells us that we are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ." The Scriptures remind us that even before we were formed in the womb that God had a purpose for our lives. It tells us that we "more than overcomers" and "have the mind of Christ." I could go on and on, but this should be enough to get you started thinking more positive thoughts about yourself.

I want you to see yourself as God sees you, not as the devil wants you to see yourself. You are so valuable that God sent His Son to the cross to die for your sins. God desires to adopt you into His family so you can spend all eternity with Him in heaven. You are not a loser, a mistake, an accident, a misfit. Stop giving the devil access into your mind and reject every attempt he makes to fill your mind with poisonous lies. Accept what God says about you and believe it. Doing so will change your life.