7 Lies That Christians Believe (and There Are More) - Part 1

In John 8, Jesus identifies the devil and warns against aligning with him:
44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Two chapters later, we read that Jesus described the work of the enemy, saying that he comes to steal, kill, and destroy, contrasting that with His work - to bring abundant life.   We're told in Scripture to resist him, and one important tool is found in 2nd Corinthians 10, where we are told to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  Every thought.  Satan is the father of lies, and he wants to deceive, distort, and distract the child of God with His lies - but we can counter that deception with the powerful truth of God's Word, the Sword of the Spirit with which we exalt Christ and embrace and establish His truth.

Last week, I referred to a piece on the Faith Street website about lies that pastors believe, in the context of a significant number of pastors who desire to leave the ministry.

How sad.  And, it occurred to me that we buy in to lies in our own consciousness that would discourage us, distort our view of God and His faithfulness, and even make us unproductive in our Christian life.  Sometimes we will fall victim to the aggressive lies that the enemy, who is termed by Jesus as the "father of lies," will place in our minds.   Other times we believe the press that we write about ourselves willingly - ultimately, the origin is the same, the delivery method is similar - in our minds, but we make a conscious choice to walk in a false spiritual reality.

So, I crafted a list of 7 lies that we might believe about ourselves relative to our relationship with God.   This is by no means exhaustive, but I think this list can provide us with some food for thought today.

First up, God can’t love you – you are not worthy of His love.  

There are several layers of deception here.  God's love is unconditional, and is extended to all.   So we don't place limitations on the love of God. His love was demonstrated by the sacrifice of His Son for us so that we might have relationship with Him. By thinking that there is something we can do to exit the love of God is placing an unscriptural emphasis on works - on what we can do to earn His love.   His love is not something we can earn, but rather something that we receive and experience.   

The truth is found in 1 John 3:

1Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

Or, how about Romans 5:

8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The next lie: You are invincible and the center of your own universe.

We're human; we have an exaggerated sense of our own importance.   And, when it comes down to the plans we make and our decisions, there is a tendency to do it ourselves.  We have to be so careful that we don't make life all about us and expect life to revolve around us.  That is certainly not the way of the Creator. God doesn't not want us to consult with Him or give lipservice to His presence and His principles - He desires for us to humbly recognize that our lives are not our own.  

The truth is found in 1st Corinthians 6:

19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
We were created for the glory of the Father; no He does not exist to please us - the opposite is true. In Isaiah 43:7, as God is expressing to and through the prophet His desire to bring people into a relationship with Himself, He refers to:

7Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."

One other lie that we have to guard against is that: Your relationship with God is directly related to how much you do for Him.  

Now, there's a fine line here, because our faith in Jesus Christ and the presence of the indwelling Christ will produce evidence in our lives.   James said that faith without works is dead.  But we can become so intent on validating our Christian credentials that we wear ourselves out spiritually in trying to somehow do enough to make God like us, to know that He is pleased.

I want to please God, but I have to make sure that I am not attempting to earn favor with Him.  We cannot regard Him as some cruel taskmaster who has placed unreasonable expectations on us in order to stay in His good graces.  That is not a love relationship - that is not the nature of the relationship to which He has called us.  Sure, we have to guard against complacency in our walk, but our fruit, the evidence of our salvation, flows as we regard Christ is our life and allow His Spirit, His very life, to flow through us and enable us to please Him, not from our own effort, but simply by His grace and power.

Jesus addresses abiding in Him in John 15:

4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.5I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

There are more - and I want to cover more of these lies that can trap us tomorrow.