Lies Women BelieveSýnishorn

So how did Satan get Eve to bite into that apple? He didn’t force the apple into her hand. Satan deceived Eve through a clever combination of outright lies, half-truths, and falsehoods disguised as truth. He began by planting seeds of doubt in her mind about what God had actually said (“Did God really say . . . ?”).

Next he led her to be careless with the Word of God and to suggest that God had said something that, in fact, He had not said. God had said, “Do not eat the fruit of the tree.” But Eve quoted God as saying, “Neither shall you touch it” (v. 3).

Satan deceived Eve by causing her to question the goodness, love, and motives of God. The implication was: “Has God put restrictions on your freedom? Sounds like He doesn’t want you to be happy.”

The Truth is that God had said, “‘You are free to eat from any tree of the garden (2:16 CSB)—except one.” The Truth is that God is a generous God.

Satan deceived Eve by causing her to make her decision based on what she could see and on what her emotions and her reason told her to be right, even when it was contrary to what God had told Adam and Eve.

Satan holds out the glittering promise of “real life,” knowing full well that those who respond to his offer will certainly die (Prov. 14:12).

So why do we fall for his deception? Why do we go for the lure? For starters, Satan’s lies don’t come at us through talking serpents. Rather, they may be attractively disguised in a New York Times best-seller, a popular mommy blog, or a catchy hit song. They may surface subtly in a classroom with a brilliant prof or in sincere advice from a relative or friend, a therapist, or even a Christian writer, teacher, or counselor.

Day after day, we are bombarded with countless forms of deception that make their way into our minds, lobbed at us not only by our tireless enemy, the devil, but by this fallen world in which we live and by our own sinful, weak flesh, all of which are at odds with God and truth and seek to seduce us.

Regardless of the immediate source, anytime we receive input that is not consistent with the Word of God, our antennae should go up. What we read or hear may sound right, may feel right, may seem right—but if it’s contrary to the Word of God, it isn’t right.

~Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Questions:

● Think of a movie you’ve seen recently, a book you’ve read, or a song you’ve been

listening to. In what ways is it consistent with God’s Word? Are there ways it may lead

you away from God’s Word?

● To spot lies, we first need to be deeply familiar with the Truth. What practical steps

can you take to know God’s Word better?