Enough: Silencing Lies That Steal Your ConfidenceSample

Recognize the Lies

The Bible says, “We are not ignorant of [Satan’s] schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11 nasb). His schemes include a step-by-step progressive plan of one lie that leads to another lie that leads to another lie. The lies begin small with seemingly insignificant consequences and gradually grow large with more destructive repercussions. Lies such as: 

I’m so stupid.

I can’t do anything right.

I’ll never change.

The only way to recognize the lie is to know the truth. We must know the truth so when a counterfeit comes along we recognize its lack of authenticity.

When someone is training to become a bank teller, he or she is taught how to recognize counterfeit money. However, the instructors don’t teach what counterfeit bills look like; they teach what genuine currency looks like. They study the markings, the coloring, and the feel of real money, so when the counterfeit comes along, the teller can recognize it. 

D. L. Moody once said, “The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside it.” God’s Word is the only straight stick—the only measuring stick that matters.

If Satan came to you in a little red suit with a pitchfork and announced himself as the devil, you wouldn’t believe a word he said. But he is cunning and disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). When he deceived Eve, he even quoted Scripture—albeit twisted and distorted.

He has a collection of old tapes from your past, and he pushes rewind and play, rewind and play. Oh yes, he knows which buttons to push. He also uses personal pronouns like “I” instead of “you.” The thoughts sound something like this: I am a failure. I am a loser. I can’t do anything right. I’m ugly. The thoughts sound like you, feel like you, and before you know it, you think they are you. That’s the reason it’s so difficult to detect the lies. They sound just like us.

When it comes to the enemy, we don’t have to outfight him, we just have to out truth him. But first, we have to recognize the lies we’ve been telling ourselves.

Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” It is knowing God’s truth that will help us recognize the lies and reject them.