What goes on between our ears causes us more problems than we sometimes realize. Too often we let our thoughts get out of control. We fuel a wildfire of fear and anxiety and burn up our lives in the process.
If we don’t learn how to control our thoughts, we end up in a desolate mental wasteland without hope. We also end up on an emotional roller coaster that we don’t need to be riding.
One of the ways our thoughts get out of control is by believing the lies Satan tells us. They can sneak into our thoughts in the way we talk to ourselves, or believe words someone else says to us. It’s easy for our perspective to get colored by the false things we believe, they hold us back and keep us bound.
The lies we believe steal our joy no matter what situation we find ourselves in. My circumstances began when I was a child. The lies were drilled into my brain daily. I was trained to believe the lies, because that’s all I knew. Lies leave us feeling insecure and defeated, and unable to carry out our purpose.
The reality is that we can only stop listening to the lies when we replace them with the truth -God’s truth.
It takes work. I had to retrain my brain to get where I am today.
The lie: I will never be good enough had to be replaced with I am good enough because the Holy Spirit empowers me. “I am God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which prepared beforehand that I should walk I them” (Ephesians 2:10.
The lie: I am worthless had to be replaced with I am God’s treasured possession. “The Lord has chosen you to be His treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 14:2).
The lie: I am ugly inside and outside had to replaced with I am God’s masterpiece. For I am God’s masterpiece. He has created me anew in Christ Jesus, so I can do the good things He planned for me long ago” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV).
The lie: Everyone will reject me had to be replaced with I have been chosen. “He chose me before the creation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).
The lie: I will never be happy had to be replaced with my joy comes from the Lord. “The Lord has done great things for me and I am filled with joy” (Psalm 126:3). “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
Every time a lie would come into my mind I learned to replace it with God’s truth. I would write it down where I could see it and learn it. After a while, I began to reframe my mindset and my life began to change for the better.
While Satan cannot read our thoughts before we have them, he can use his knowledge of human nature, and our past behaviors to suggest thoughts and influence our decisions. He can exploit our weaknesses and insecurities or sinful tendencies to steer us toward choices that align with his desires rather than God’s.
We can protect ourselves from Satan’s influence by strengthening our faith and learning God’s promises in His Word.
From Pity to Praise 