Fighting back lies...

I’ve always had an internal battle going on in my head. I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a small voice taunting me, poking me, telling me I’m not good enough, that I’ll never get it right, that I’ll always fail, that I’m not worth loving, etc. etc. etc. It was a normal part of my life, I never considered that life could be different. During the ‘mountain-tops’ of my walk it would be rare, but in the ‘valleys’ I would feel overwhelmed by the voice, unable to defend my heart or my mind from it’s attacks, taking them in and letting them wound and bruise my heart. I would hesitate to fight for myself, I felt like I didn't know how.

One late night during my freshman year at college I was the only one to help a friend through as she was attacked by those very same lies that simmered in the back of my own mind. As we sat in the courtyard, God reminded me of all His promises, His truths about our identities and I fought for her heart, I fought with all I had to wrap her up in the beautiful tapestry of God’s truth about her. Verses that I had forgotten I knew came to the front of my mind and became my weapon for fighting back each lie. Using God’s word as a sword had sounded so cliché to a girl who grew up in the church… but that night I learned how true it is. Each verse, each passage, each story is a testimony of Truth, God’s Truth, the only true weapon or defense you can have against the lies of the Enemy.

Though I still am far from having verse upon verse memorized, surrounding myself with His Word, making it a part of my daily life has greatly changed my life. I still know that voice, am familiar with it’s lies but now I recognize it for what it is; an attack to hold me back, to keep me from clinging to Truth, to my Redeemer and His love for me. The most effective shield I have found is hiding in the knowledge of who my Redeemer is, clinging to the knowledge that my God is ever faithful (Gen. 17:7, Isaiah 26:4), always loving (Exodus 15:13, 1 Chron. 16:34), never changing (Num. 23:19, Job 23:13, Psalm 33:11), gracious (Exodus 34:6), all powerful (Exodus 15:11, Job 42:2, Matt. 19:26). If I can trust in this God, who is all these things and chose to love me and save me, no lie can nestle its way into my heart.

Study our wonderful Redeemer with me? The Psalms are a great place to start. Let His Word protect your heart, “for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23).