The Lies We Believe About Ourselves!
We create our own lies through deception by believing the wrong ideas. Our own opinions are shaped by wrong thoughts, a religious lifestyle, and a character that seems godly. James warns that if I am not a doer of the Word, I am deceived. Truth always reveals reality, bringing about a manifestation of godly change and conformity to His image.
We no longer eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We now eat from the tree of eternal life, which is truth and leads to eternal life, changing the heart in righteousness. We know Satan is the father of all lies and operates in the thought realm; he is the god of the mind.
The greatest lie we believe concerns our identity. If we do not know who we are in Christ, we create an identity of self shaped by wrong perceptions and understanding of life itself, and by ungodly or religious parents. Wrong thinking projects ideas, schemes, and thoughts that confirm who we are, which are lies and not in line with the Word.
Our feelings then conjure emotions that make us feel good or bad. Demons and evil spirits release feelings, almost like sound waves. Our flesh submits to them, and then those feelings become thoughts we create in our thinking. When we do not know the truth, we accept those feelings as reality because they give us an identity, which is a lie. Because we have no true identity, our feelings create thoughts in our minds that give us an image of what we accept as truth. I may think a thought, but that does not make it true in my life. Only the Word of God, meditated on through the anointing and life of God, changes my thinking in line with the image that God has for us, and we believe the truth.
Another lie we believe is that we are not good enough and that we do not value ourselves. We are always looking for validation and acceptance. It is all part of an orphan spirit that makes others look bad while you are always looking good in your own eyes, having an opinion and always being right. This is pride hiding behind an orphan spirit, a false pretense, and a false image of yourself. You do not want people to see the real you, so you judge and criticize others, making them feel bad about themselves while you feel good and accomplished, thinking it serves them right.
The thing about deception is that you think you are not deceived, but the other person is. Truth becomes right only for you, regardless. When I have no value in myself, I do not take responsibility for my actions because I am always right. I create an image in other people’s thinking that I know more, based on a perception of truth that I have, and I project an image that I know more than you, so you must submit to my way of understanding. That is intimidation and manipulation through a narcissistic mind. When that person is challenged with truth, they rise up and try to override you, claiming that you are wrong. I do not need to change; the other person must change so that I can feel good about myself because I told you I am right. I look down upon others because I believe I have the right to be right, because I know more than you do. This is looking for acceptance to make myself accept myself.
When I believe I am not good enough, I do things to please others so they will accept me, and if they do not like me, I become offended and begin to push back. I begin to say, “This person did this to me because they are not supposed to treat me like this.” The false perception that you thought was the truth exposes your wrong expectation. The woman who made Elijah’s meal said, “This is our last meal, then we die.” She believed that was the truth, but the prophet changed her lack into an expectation of more than enough. Her value of herself was lack, but when she obeyed, the provision was great.
When we condemn ourselves, we begin to build walls of protection so that we do not get hurt. We either isolate ourselves, or we promote ourselves by insisting what we do is right, although it promotes us. We say things to be accepted: “I have compassion for that person.” But if that person confronts us, we become angry and live in resentment. What you said had no meaning; you said it to make yourself accepted. You see, I am right. But when you were confronted, carnality in your thought life took control. You either become aggressive or passive. Pressure always reveals the true condition of the heart.
A carnal mindset is the enemy of God, producing an ungodly lifestyle, and an unrenewed mind does not do the will of God. When your salvation is not real and you live in your past life with the same thoughts, you have not seen yourself as a new creation in Christ. You must live from the inside out, not by feelings or emotions. When you do not pull the reins on your thought life, your mind becomes a wanderer, and any thought enters. If you do not take authority and deal with those thoughts, it becomes a lifestyle of living under condemnation (Rom 8). You cannot sustain a life of the flesh; it is weak, produces death, and lives in the natural, whose strength is limited, flimsy, fragile, and easily upset when things do not go according to your feelings. You must prop up a life that is not real, and it will eventually be exposed. Such people are always trying to win, but never do.
You listen to your pastor, you follow the Scriptures for a few days, and when it does not work for you, you become critical. Everything is centered on yourself. People like this often do not keep their jobs, especially when there is authority over them. They do not like responsibility or being told what to do.
Pride says, “I will do it my way.”
Humility says, “I will always do it God’s way.”
An orphaned spirit creates a situation in which you are controlled by reprobate thinking that is void of self-judgment but judges others (telling others what to do but not doing it yourself). God resists and stands against such a mindset because the choices you make affect others. The seeds you sow bring destruction. You undermine others by intimidating them to promote yourself, and nothing seems to work out. You are always good at making others feel bad because they are not doing the good that you do. Sodom and Gomorrah were places like this.
What is not of faith is sin. My life must reflect the answer and the victory. What about grace? It is God’s desire for you to change. Grace is not there to accept flesh, carnality, and demonic influence. Submit, therefore, to grace. Resist the devil by grace, and he will flee. The works and yielding to the flesh are manifestations of unrepentant sin and mindsets. Why do I say that? Because you have given place to the enemy in your flesh and opened the door to demonic influence.
Anger mostly comes from bitterness, and you lash out. When you deal with bitterness and unforgiveness, anger has no place. When the Holy Spirit is in control, He suppresses emotions and feelings, and through a renewed mind, you begin to overcome and live a stable life with a sound mind through the anointing and His presence. Godly wisdom will always instruct us to promote others and help them achieve their goals. When I use others to benefit myself, I will always self-destruct.
When we function in the natural and in carnal-mindedness, we have strongholds. We have vain imaginations (arguments, theories, reasonings). We have thoughts that are proud and lofty against the knowledge of the Word, and those thoughts lead us captive to disobey the Word. The works (business, employment, that which one is occupied with) of the flesh are manifest (plainly recognized) (Gal. 5:19–21). That is why our minds must be renewed. We must meditate on and do the Word. We must live in the Spirit and in His presence as our daily fellowship. God seeks worshipers and praises that enter His gates, living in faith that pleases Him.
A sound mind thinks and lives in the mind of Christ. You obey Him because you love Him.
Christ has suffered in the flesh; arm yourself likewise with the same mind. The law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
