Secular and Theological Truths for Defeating Lies Part 1

Self-Lies

LIE #1: “I Must Be Perfect”

Secular Truth: To err is human.

Theological Truth:

Romans 3:21-23: This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

1 John 1:8: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

LIE #2: “I Must Have Everyone’s Love and Approval

Secular Truth: You cn’t please all of the people all of the time.

Theological Truth:

Colossians 3:23-24: Whatever you do, work at it with all your hearet, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

Galatians 1:10: Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

LIE #3: “It Is Easier to Avoid Problems Than to Face Them.”

Secular Truth: Problems usually get worse when avoided.

Theological Truth:

Phillipians 3:13-14: Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God as called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

LIE #4: “I Can’t Be Happy Unless Things Go My Way.”

Secular Truth: It isn’t what happens to you that makes you unhappy, it’s how you view it. So even when things don’t go your way, you can still be “happy” (content) with the proper attitude.

Theological Truth:

Acts 20:22-24: And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I amy finish th race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

Philippians 4:11-13: I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want. I can do everything through him ho gives me strength.

James 1:2-3: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials, because you know that the testing of your faith develps perserverance.

LIE #5: “It’s Somebody Else’s Fault”

Secular Truth: Our feelings, whether pleasant or unpleasant, are caused by how we think. Since no one forces us to think the way we choose to think, we are responsible for the feelings that our thoughts create. Our unhappiness (or happiness) is our “fault.”

Theological Truth:

Proverbs 23:7: As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he.

Worldly Lies

LIE #1: “You Can Have It All”

Secular Truth: No one really has it all. Everyone has gaps in his or her life.

Theological Truth:

1 John 2:15-17: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

1 Timothy 6:7-10: For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

LIE #2: “You Are Only as Good as What You Do.”

Secular Truth: Your worth is tied to who you are, not what you do.

Theological Truth:

Galatians 3:10-11: All who rely on the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law because, “The righteous will live by faith.”

LIE #3: “Life Should Be Easy”

Secular Truth: Life is rough. A great dal of hardship and frustration is built into it.

Theological Truth:

John 16:33: I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

LIE #4: “Life Should Be Fair.”

Secular Truth: Life is sometimes fair and sometimes unfair.

Theological Truth:

Ecclesiastes 8:14: Something else meaningless occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.

LIE #5: “Don’t Wait”

Secular Truth: Patience is a virtue. It is often healthier to delay gratification rather than sek immediate gratification.

Theological Truth:

Galatians 6:7-8: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked.” A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Proverbs 14:29: A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

LIE #6: “People Are Basically Good.”

Secular Truth: People have both good and evil inside of them, and they see as bent on self-destruction as thy do on growth.

Theological Truth:

Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things” and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Matthew 15:19: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Romans 3:10-12: As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, none who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless, thre is no one who does good, not even one.”

Galatians 5:19: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

Secular and Theological Truths for Defeating Lies- Part 2
Marital Lies

LIE #1: “It‘s All Your Fault”

Secular Truth: It takes two to tango. Marriage problems are rarely one person‘s fault..

Theological Truth:

Romans 2:1: You , therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

LIE #2: “If It Takes Hard Work, We Must Not Be Right for Each Other.”

Secular Truth: Hard work in marriage is the norm, not the exception. It means you and your partner need each other’s help to work out personality flaws and weaknesses.

Theological Truth:

I Corinthians 7:28b: But those who marry will face many troubles in this life.

LIE #3: “You Can and Should Meet All My Needs.”

Secular Truth: No one person can meet all your needs. Your needs can best be met through a variety of sources.

Theological Truth:

Philippians4:19: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

LIE #4: “You Owe Me.”

Secular Truth: Your spouse doesn’t “owe” you anything for what you do. You do what you do because, at some level, you choose to do it. You aren’t owed anything for what you choose to do.

Theological Truth:

1 Peter 5:5b: Clothe yourselves with humility because “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

LIE #5: “I Shouldn‘t Have to Change.”

Secular Truth: Marriage requires change. People who refuse to change stagnate themselves and their marriages. The important issue is deciding what we need to change about ourselves and what we don’t.

Theological Truth:

Hebrews 12:14a: Make every effort to live in peace with all and to be holy.

LIE #6: “You Should Be Like Me.”

Secular Truth: Every person is unique and can’t be a carbon copy of anyone else. It would be boring if it weren’t that way.

Theological Truth:

1 Corinthians 12:18-19: But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?

Distortion-Lies

LIE #1: “Magnification”

Secular Truth: Mountains are not molehills. Five dollar events are five-dollar events, not fifty-dollar events.

LIE #2: “Personalization”

Secular Truth: We are not the target or cause of everything that happens to us. Many life events that happen directly to us are not meant personally and are more a statement about the person who did them than about us.

LIE #3: “Polarization”

Secular Truth: While some issues in life are black/white, many issues are some shade of grey. Black/white issues need to be seen as black or white, but issues that are grey need to be seen that way.

LIE #4: “Selective Abstraction”

Secular Truth: While we often have to focus on a specific “tree” in life, we need to keep the whole “forest” in mind. No matter what parts there are to focus on, we need to see the whole.

LIE #5: “Overgeneralization”

Secular Truth: What happens to us in the “here and now” is not necessarily what has to happen again to us in the future. History does not have to repeat itself.

LIE #6: “Emotional Reasoning”

Secular Truth: Feelings aren’t facts; feelings are feelings.

Religious-Lies

LIE #1: “God‘s Love Must Be Earned”

Theological Truth:

Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,” so that no one can boast.

LIE #2: “God Hates The Sin and the Sinner”

Theological Truth:

John 8:11: The woman caught in adultery.

Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

LIE #3: “Because I‘m a Christian, God Will Protect Me from Pain and Suffering.”

Theological Truth:

1 Peter 4:12-13: Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the suffering of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

John 16:33: I have told you these things so “that in me you may have peace.” In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Philippians 1:29: For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.

LIE #4: “My Problems Are Caused by My Sins.”

Theological Truth:

John 9:1-3: As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but [this happened so] that the work of God might be revealed in his life.”

LIE #5: “It Is My Christian Duty to Meet All the Needs of Others.”

Theological Truth:

1 Corinthians 12:27-31: Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have the gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Romans 12:6-7: We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if teaching, let him teach; if encouraging, let him encourage; if contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if leadership, let him govern diligently; if showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

LIE #6: “A Good Christian Doesn‘t Feel Angry, Anxious or Depressed.”

Theological Truth:

John 11:33-35: When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Lord, come and see,” they replied. Jesus wept.

Mark 14:32-34: They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James, and John along, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

Mark 11:15-16: On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

Ephesians 4:26: In your anger, do not sin.

LIE #7: “God Can‘t Use Me Unless I‘m Spiritually Strong.”

Theological Truth:

2 Corinthians 13:4: For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Corinthians 1:27: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

1 Corinthians 9:22: To the weak I became weak to win the weak.