Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free -- John 8:32

"I started creating collages of models when I was in junior high. I wanted to be a model, but the boys just laughed at me. Looking at all those magazines, and TV shows like "Charlie's Angels" made me feel like I was supposed to look like them to be successful. The media increases that pressure to compare ourselves to these 'super models' and actresses. But Jesus said, 'And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of Truth' (John 14:16,17)" -- Kimberly Davidson

Our culture is image driven. The media tells us we should all be skinny, youthful and beautiful, regardless of what our genetics say. Many of us start believing these lies and begin to think that our value as a person is based on how close we come to this "perfect woman". Our culture is riddled with deception. It is everywhere - look at the outlandish advertising claims. Sometimes it is easy to see through the falsehood. Unfortunately, however, most deception is not quite so easy to detect. We can only begin to change when we change our thinking...when we recognize a LIE and the TRUTH.

Eating disorders, addiction and self-abuse are not your identity. You have to see them as lies then start tearing them down and rebuild your mind with the real truth. In order to be completely free we must start replacing the lies with the truth, and that's got to be God's truth. We listen to music, read books and magazines, watch movies, listen to advice, and respond to advertisements without asking ourselves important questions like "What is the message here?" and "Is it really true?" "Am I being deceived by a way of thinking that is contrary to the Truth?"

We cannot spend day after day in this world without it affecting our minds, our hearts, and our souls. They become unguarded. Our hearts start to shift away from God. And the ironic thing is the harder we work to become free, the more freedom we seem to lose. Most often we aren't even aware this is happening. We go about our business believing all is well, but deep down inside something feels wrong.

David cried to God, "How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?" (Ps. 13:2, my emphasis). His soul is conflicted.

A major portion of understanding how our past influences the present is becoming aware of the three major influences in our lives and then learning how to resist them. Toxic thinking is influenced by three different, but related, ways: through the world, directly through Satan and his demons, and through our own flesh. These negative influences commonly work together to lead people away from God, negatively affecting our beliefs, thinking, and behavior. These are our Conflict Zones [click to read more].

Lies versus Truths

1. Lie: I am unlovable and unworthy. Truth: Your worth is in who God says you are. "But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Do you not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" -- Luke 12:7 NKJV
2. Lie: I can never meet this standard. Truth: Regardless of whatever you do (fail to succeed), you will always be loved, completely accepted to God. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -- Philippians 4:13 NKJV
3. Lie: I am fat, ugly and will always will be. Truth: God made you unique and He loves you. He will help you with changes in your life to help you improve your health and lengthen your life. Choose to love yourself and value yourself by God's standards. Completion as a woman comes from our Creator. "I beseech you, therefore, brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God." -- Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
4. Lie: I will always be insecure and fearful. I am a bad person. Truth: Be confident in God. You can draw all your strength, security, identity and courage from Him."You are of God, little children, and you have overcome them: for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." -- 1 John 4:4 NKJV
5. Lie: Turmoil is normal in my life. Truth: God can restore the time you have wasted and give you peace. "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten..." -- Joel 2:25 NKJV
6. Lie: I am a loser. I always make bad choices. Truth: God will help you to make wise decisions if you ask Him for direction. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally, without reproach, and it will be given to him." -- James 1:5 NKJV
7. Lie: If I let anyone get close to me I will get hurt again and I won't risk that. Truth: God will heal every hurt in your heart. He will give you wisdom in your relationships. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." -- (Isaiah 61:1 NKJV)
8. Lie: God doesn't love or understand me. Truth: With the help of the Holy Spirit your relationship with God will grow stronger, and you will be able to hear Him more clearly. "For 'who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ. -- 1 COR. 2:16 NKJV
9. Lie: I will always be lonely and will never be married. Truth: God will give you discernment to know which man He has prepared for you to marry."God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. -- Psalm 68:6 NIV

Everybody has beauty, but not everyone sees it. God has made promises to you, and He will give you a picture of whom you really are. I want you to look into the mirror of God's word and see yourself as He sees you. I want you to know how much He loves you, and how much you have because of His son. If we are going to start believing the truth about your appearance and weight, then we have to go to the "Ultimate Source". What does our heavenly Father have to say about our beauty, our bodies and appearances?

Truths ~

• For starters: Truth is a Person - the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life -- John 14:6
• You were made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
• In the whole universe, God gives you a place of honor. Psalm 8:5-8 says, "You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, ...all that swim the paths of the seas."

Outward appearances don't count as much as what's inside of you. Proverbs 31:30-31 says, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 10-31 presents the "wife of noble character" who receives reward for faithfulness because she is not dependent on the temporary, superficial, deceptive facade of "charm", which is a mere outward varnish easily scarred and marred by people and circumstances, and "beauty" which can depart like an unfaithful friend to make room for wrinkles and blemishes. The Bible says, "Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else. -- Galations 6:4

• Our God, your Father, takes great delight in you! Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
• God loves you enough to send His Son to die for you. Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
• Your outward appearance isn't what really makes YOU beautiful. 1 Peter 3:3-5 says, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which, is of great worth in God's sight.
• Psalm 139. This author of this poem knew that our bodies are among one of God's miracles. He thanked God for carefully forming our bodies before we were even born. He shows us that God created each one of us as a unique and special person. So...if God created out bodies then our bodies are good the way He created them. Verses 13-16 say, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works wonderful are wonderful, and I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place, When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days that were ordained for me, were written in your book before one of them came to be."
• God always looks at you as you are in Christ Jesus, a NEW creature. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold the new has come." --2 Corinthians 5:17. Isn't that exciting!
• True Freedom is found in a vital, growing relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the living Word of God, and has revealed Himself in Scripture (the written Word of God). If we want to know Him - know the Truth - we must read, study and meditate on His Word. WHY? The enemy (Satan) is constantly confronting us with his lies. In order to combat his deception, our hearts and minds must be filled with Jesus and saturated with His Word.
  

Think about this when you begin comparing the inside of yourself to the outside of others. It's not so much what they have, but what you think you lack - in other words, these other women that we think are so "perfect" have the same problems in life that we all do.

"Therefore, don't lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Four our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, for what is unseen is eternal." -- 2 Cor. 4:16-18

Intellectually and theologically we know God is good, but you feel He's not really good, because He has not been good to you. Let talk about that ~

• Maybe you can't trust God as a loving Father because your earthly father was so unloving, or you just have never felt loved, so you cannot believe that God would love you.
• God is not like any human we have ever known. He is perfect, and perfectly good and loving. He loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us.
• There's a lie that runs rampant in our culture - that lie is that God is not enough. Our culture tells us that we need "things", "money", "status" in order to be complete, happy and fulfilled.
• The truth is we have God, and that's all we really need.
• Another lie we believe is that if we live God's way, we'll be miserable. How can I be happy living as a saint?
• The bible makes it clear, that Jesus came to set his people free. The bible gives us guidance and instruction, that when we obey it, results in great blessings and protection
• And the last lie is that if we give all our problems to God we will have problem-free lives.
• When I hear that, that scares me to death. You are just setting yourself up for failure.
• Life is hard.
• God is more concerned about glorifying Himself AND changing me - than solving all my trivial problems
• God has an eternal purpose that He is fulfilling in the midst of my problems
• God wants to use my problems as part of His purifying process in my life
• No matter what problem I am facing, God's grace is sufficient for me
  
• God never promised to make life easy. But He did promise to walk us through those problems. He also told us he would take our problems, then use them for our own good to mold us into the image of His son, Jesus.

Satan's Lies

The Difference Between God (Truth) and Satan (Lies)

Regardless of the source, anytime we receive input that is not consistent with the Word of God we can be sure Satan is trying to deceive and destroy us. What we read or hear may sound right, may feel right, may seem right, but if it is contrary to the Word of God, it isn't right. It started in the garden of Eden with Eve. If we could only see that the forbidden fruit, fruit that looks so ripe and tastes so sweet in the first moment, always leads ultimately to death and destruction. Deception was-and still is-crucial to Satan's strategy.

• LIE: Who you are comes from what you have done
• TRUTH: Your identity comes from what God has done for you
• LIE: Your identity comes from what people say about you
• TRUTH: Your identity comes from what God says about you
• LIE: You are unlovable and not accepted and can no longer be supported
• TRUTH: God loves you ad accepts you and will never leave or forsake you (Heb. 13:5-6). God has given you everything you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3) and victory (1 Cor. 15:57)
• LIE: Your behavior tells you what to believe about yourself
• TRUTH: Your belief about yourself determines you behavior
• LIE: You are bad person, a sinner, and you will never change
• TRUTH: You are a righteous saint (one declared righteous by God - 2 Cor. 5:21) who sins - we all do! The old person you used to be was crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:4). You are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) who is dead to sin (ROM 6:2).
• LIE: You deserve to be punished and condemned. You can't face the truth about yourself. You are a prisoner of your past.
• TRUTH: There is NO more guilt and condemnation if Christ (ROM 8:1). God has taken care of your past in the cross and you are now a product of the cross.
• LIE: It is up to you and you should just give up!
• TRUTH: God will do it all for you (1 Thess. 5:24) and has called you to give up and rest in Him (Heb. 4:10, 2 Cor. 1:8-9)
• More lies...
• According to Jesus, it is the devil's very nature to deceive: The devil was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• TRUTH: Sin is dangerous, deadly and destructive
• TRUTH: We will reap what we sow - every choice we make has consequences
• TRUTH: If we play with fire, we will get burned
• TRUTH: "Sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" -- James 1:15
• Pastor Thomas Brooks said: Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor, and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure, and pays with pain; he promises profit, and pays with loss; he promises life, and pays with death.

The Bible says YOU are ~

'I'm fully loved, completely accepted, totally pleasing to God. I am the redeemed. I am the beloved. I delight in her. I am the apple of His eye. I am a princess. I have a destiny. I have a future.'

You're accepted ~

• a child of God (John 1:12)
• I am united with the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17)
• I am a saint (Eph. 1:1)
• I am complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)
• the salt and the light of the earth (Matt. 5:13-14)

• God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
• a temple, a dwelling place (1 Cor. 3:16)
• am born of God; the evil one cannot touch me (1 john 5:18) = be secure
• I cannot be separated from the love of God (Roman 8:35-39)
• a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now (Phil. 3:20)
  

My favorite: I may approach God with freedom and confidence! (Eph. 3:12)

When you start believing that and saying these things out loud every day, your life begins to change, and Satan looses. "Understanding your identity in Christ is absolutely essential for your success at living a victorious life!" -- Dr. Neil Anderson