the lies we tell ourselves

2 Lies We Believe About Ourselves

There are two lies we come to believe in our belief system, and because we believe them, we react in ways that are destructive to us. 1 The Lies People Tell Us The first kind of lies we believe are those that are projected onto us by others; most often by those who are authority figures and those closest to us. There is no defense against these lies when you are younger. Those sorts of lies are the ones which cut right to the heart and become the 'truths' we allow to run our lives. If you were told you were bad, you believed you were bad. If you were told you were ugly, you believed you were ugly. If you were told you were dumb, you believed you were dumb. If you were told you were too dramatic, you believed you were too dramatic. Get the point??

The result can be an inability to tell the difference between what you did and WHO YOU ARE!

2. The Lies We Tell Ourselves The other sort of lies we believe are those we tell ourselves in order to survive. These are crafted by ourselves in circumstances when we were abused or neglected. These are moments when our true needs are not met. We grow less and less vulnerable because of this. We did not want to get hurt any longer; so we became less vulnerable in order to avoid getting hurt. We start to believe things (lies) like, "I don't need anybody," "Nobody really cares what I think or feel anyway."

We begin to believe things like this and grow more and more numb; less and less vulnerable. The problem with this is that refusing to be vulnerable may actually be less painful for the moment BUT it undermines our ability to have good and healthy relationships in the future.

We have to begin the process of disproving the lies (projected and survival) we have come to believe as truth, because those beliefs are tearing us down.

what LIES within

We believe so many lies about ourselves, and when we believe those lies we develop different reactions to feel better or cope or forget about those lies. The part of this whole thing that sucks so badly is that we are reacting to LIES. We have certain destructive behaviors, and we try to change the behavior without changing the lie that lead us to our behavior. In order for us to really be better and whole (the real meaning of shalom), we have to identify and recognize the lies and false beliefs we have and how they affect us. Once we recognize the false beliefs, we have to replace them with truths. Once we replace the lies with truth we will find that our destructive behaviors, our underreactions and overreactions, will also begin to change. Any situation in which I underreact or overreact to something involved some sort of pain, wound, or lie underneath my surface. I have protected my wounds with lies and false beliefs, and my behaviors have developed as a result.

In John, Chapter 8, Jesus is speaking to the Jews, and he tells them they are slaves to sin. But he tells them in vss. 31 and 32 that if they would, "continue in his word...and know the truth, that truth would make them free." We are slaves to our lies and false beliefs about ourselves. But if we would continue to listen to God's words and his heart for us, we would be able to see the TRUTH about ourselves, and that TRUTH can set us free.

QUESTION: What are the lies we tell ourselves?

I am working on a project right now, and I need your brainstorming feedback. The question: "What are the lies we tell ourselves?" The context: whatever you like (about relationships, about our faith, about work, about creativity, about addictions, about passions, about life in general)

Examples: He will love me if I put out. My dream is not worth pursuing because.... They don't and couldn't like me because... I will always be alone. Life is pointless. God could never love ME.  Facebook is real community. The Raiders are a good football team. This product will make my life better. I deserve this.

So, the question has been asked; please respond here with your answers.

You may anonymously email your lies to info@ragamuffinpc.com