Break Free for Good: Beyond Quick Fixes to Real Freedom (Part 3)नमूना

After you've confessed, renounced, and rejected the lie, you must make a new home for truth there. Identifying your specific spider is like taking medicine. To determine the correct medicine, you must first identify the particular illness.

Your Bible can be taken away, but what you've memorized in your heart cannot be. We live in a culture where we've given up memorizing things because we have search engines and artificial intelligence at our disposal. But David reminds us in the Psalms: "I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119:11 ESV)

For years, I've spent time in Romans 8 because it speaks to so many of our common struggles:

Romans 8:1 reminds me that God doesn't condemn me. Many of us live under shame and condemnation, believing we’re not worthy or that we’ve outsinned God's grace. But this verse says, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (NIV)

Romans 8:14-17 tells me God adopted me into His family. These verses declare God as my true Father.

Romans 8:31-32 promises that God won't withhold anything good from those who love Him.

Romans 8:38-39 ends with the reminder that nothing can separate us from His love.

Let me share my personal truth list. Even as a pastor, I'm tempted by lies, specifically: "I'm only as good as my last sermon," "I'm not good enough," and "I'll never have what it takes."

If I embrace those lies, they become spiders that develop into unhealthy habits and cobwebs that could destroy my ministry. So I built a list of truths that I read before stepping onto a platform to preach. Here’s a short list of the truths I compiled:

• Jesus loves me for who I am, not what I do (Romans 8:37-39)
• I have nothing to prove and no one to impress (Romans 5:8)
• I am good even when people don't like me because my primary audience is God (Colossians 3:23)
• I am God's masterpiece, and today I step into His plans for me (Ephesians 2:10)
• The Holy Spirit lives within me, and I'm not alone (John 14)

I recite these not as positive-thinking mantras, but because they're God's truth. I fight my enemy's lies with scripture!

In Ephesians 6, there's only one offensive weapon in the armor of God: the Word of God. You need to take the fight to your lies by replacing them with truth. When you know what truth counters your specific lies, you can immediately respond to Satan’s lies. Be bold and say, "Nope, that's not true," and then recite the corresponding scripture.

This is precisely how Jesus battled Satan in Matthew 4. Every time Satan tempted Him, Jesus replied with God's Word: "It is written..."

What if you wrote a short list of verses that replace the specific lies you've agreed with? What if you wrote them on cards, put them on your mirror, and began memorizing them, so you're armed with truth when lies come?

Tomorrow, we'll discuss the importance of community in this battle and your next steps forward.