When We Believe the Lies

 

I bet you know yourself pretty well. However long you’ve lived with, well… you, there’s things you believe about the person you are that define your life. Sometimes they hold you back from certain things (and depending on what it is, that can be a good thing), but other times those ideas are delaying you from reaching full potential.

It’s in my Genes

Have I always been this way? Some say your personality is developed by the time you’re a toddler. That means that the first 2-3 years of your life already set the pavement for what would be the rest of your existence. Decisions you make today are based on desires and impulses you’ve had since before you were old enough to spell out the alphabet.

Now while genetics probably played a huge part in all that, there are environmental factors that also contribute to this continuum of self perception. I remember how growing up in a Cuban household you were constantly put into categories. Like being told you were too tall to be a ballerina, or not good enough for choir. Since I was always very quiet–add to that a loud Cuban family in the background–I was pinned as “The Shy One”. Granted, I wouldn’t have made the cut as a Spice Girl with that name.

Sometimes being shy was easy; it kept me out of activities I didn’t want to do. It required minimal effort on my part and left it up to someone else to be vulnerable. But it also led me to believe other things that were not true.

 

Do you believe the lies?

The thoughts start small, but we all know how that snowball effect works out. One day I’m accepting that I’m shy, and that’s just how I am. Or I’m starting to think everyone is right, and I am just not smart enough. The next day I’m not going out for that school play because I won’t get that part anyways. Then I’m fading into the back–I’m just not good enough–so I might as well not even try.

I want you to realize how much that is not true. Labels you’ve been given since your childhood are distorted. The people around you that think they know you, and have given you a false name, don’t know your true identity. Those people you’ve let speak into your life for so long, and those voices you keep listening to–they need to be lowered so you can hear the voice of the one that speaks so highly of you.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

In His Truth

The bible says we are God’s handiwork, and we were created in His own image. He has prepared good works for us to do. That tells me I’m worthy and there is a plan for my life. How can I keep believing that I’m not good enough when there’s a God that tells me I’m more than enough. You are more than enough. He has placed a desire in your heart. There’s a dream you want to see in full bloom. I encourage you to lower the lies and turn up the sound on the truths that God wants to speak into your life.

He reminds us in Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” He’s not finished. Quit pondering on the why not and grow confident in this. You can either continue to believe the lies, or you can replace those thoughts with truth.