LIES WE BELIEVE/ TELLING OURSELVES THE TRUTH
Class overview
Test – from book by Dr. Chris Thurman
Each of these statements is a lie – a way that we mentally distort reality into something it isn’t. The more we agree with each statement, the more we are actually agreeing with a lie. Those are the lies you tend to believe the most strongly and the ones you may want to pay attention to first as you go through this class.
Next step – for the lies you agreed with, ask yourself - “what evidence is there that those statements are ‘true’ to you?” What evidences are there that they are ‘not’ true? If you don’t deal with both – you will keep thinking this way and it will continue to damage you and your relationships.
Inner Healing Prayer (TPM) principles... If we believe a lie, it may as well be the truth…
Satan is the Father of Lies – to believe and live out lies means we are following him not God! – This validates the importance of doing a daily truth workout. Remember, this is not a cure. There are no cures on the road to spiritual and emotional health because the enemy works all of the time on us. There are however daily victories over lies that we can consistently have.
Ok.. everyone take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back – you have already made some progress on the road to defeating lies you tell yourself and are on the way to a better life!
Types of lies we will be looking at in the class with a few examples
RELIGIOUS/ GOD LIES
· God is not really good
· A good Christian doesn’t get angry, anxious or depressed
· All my problems are caused by my sins
· God is just like my father
· God’s ways are too restrictive
SELF LIES
· My worth is determined by my performance
· I can’t help the way I am
· Physical beauty matters more than inner beauty
· I should not have to live with unfulfilled longings
· My unhappiness is someone else’s fault
WORLDLY LIES
· You can have it all
· Life should be fair
· You shouldn’t have to wait for what you want
· People are basically good
MARITAL/RELATIONSHIP LIES
· If our relationship takes hard work, we must not be right for each other
· My spouse can and should meet all my emotional needs
· I shouldn’t have to change who I am to make our marriage better
DISTORTION LIES
· Magnification – making mountains out of mole hills
· Personalization – taking everything personally
· Over-generalizations – history always repeats itself
· I can sin and get away with it
· My sin isn’t really that bad
GENDER LIES
· Women should be followers not leaders
· Men are not as emotional as women Sometimes it takes a personal crisis for the lies we believe to surface .Relationship crisis, addictions, or it can be something as simple as overreacting to getting stuck in traffic, someone taking cuts in line, or having to wait too long for somebody.
If these lies continue to grow deeper, it’s like slowly committing emotional, spiritual, and relational suicide.
Effects and results of lie based thinking – How? (brainstorm)
Loss of opportunity relationships self destruction
comparing yourself to others anger self esteem issues
loss of identity
BELIEVING LIES= SLAVERY
BELIEVING TRUTH =FREEDOM
The world's way - follow your heart, trust your feelings
God's way - the truth will set you free!
It's not enough to just know the truth, you have to believe it (heart knowledge) and ACT upon it, live it out!
John 8:32 then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free!
Romans 12:2 – be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
How can we change the equation?
Develop a network of support to help you continue this journey
What can others do to help in our Journey?
1. Encourage Us
2. Value Us
3. Challenge us to live up to our potential and embrace truth
4. Others can complement Us – Romans 12:4-8
5. Give us support
6. Pray for Us
7. Help Us Set Goals
8. Hold Us Accountable
HOW DO WE CHANGE THE EQUATION?
A few truths to remember……
- To err is human
- There is no gain without pain
- You always have a choice
- Change & embracing truth takes painful effort
A Reminder…Spiritual Health & Maturity is:
· Self-awareness
· Having built in healthy coping mechanisms
· Realizing choices
· Feeling but not being led by them
· Having a sense of wholeness
· Realizing you don’t have all the answers but knowing where to find them
GROUP WORK – MAKING IT PERSONAL
A – events that happen to us
B – give it a value - 5 cent events or $500
C – decide whether the event was your fault or someone else’s
D - what was your self-talk?
E - what was your response – physically & emotionally
F – new self-talk (truth)
G – change in response
GROUP WORK – MAKING IT PERSONAL (make up a scenario or use real life situations)
1. EVENT
2. VALUE
3. YOUR FAULT OR THEIRS?
4. SELF-TALK
5. RESPONSE – PHYSICAL & EMOTIONAL
6. NEW SELF-TALK
7. CHANGE IN RESPONSE
As you consider the information presented today, what is your personal take away and prayer request for this week?
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