Eight Lies People Believe About Themselves

By Carol McClain @carol_mcclain

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer. 29:11)

When authors create characters, they have to make the people real. Real people have problems. (In case you haven’t noticed!)

In case you haven’t noticed, I do, too.

Lots of them.

Well maybe not so many–but some of them are rooted in the idea that I’m not good enough.

I’m not sure how this took root in my life, but I’m not the topic of this blog. You are.

In creating novels, many authors refer back to therapist Amy Wallace. In her practice, she discovered there are eight basic lies people believe about themselves. By understanding these lies formed in childhood, they can develop a layered character whose life we can believe and empathize with.

Wallace treats real people, not fictional.

If we can identify the lie that informs our life, we can do something to correct the problem.

Eight Lies People Believe About Themselves

  1. I’m a disappointment.
  2. I’m not good enough.
  3. I’m not enough–or defective.
  4. I’m too much to handle and will get rejected.
  5. It’s all my fault
  6. I’m helpless–powerless to fix. This lies leads to a fear of being controlled.
  7. I’m unwanted/unloved.
  8. I’m bad.

The above are lies. According to Webster’s a lie is: something that misleads or deceives.

And who is the father of lies? “When (the devil) lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44).

You are not defined by the above untruths. You are a child of God. No matter what you did in your life, you can be forgiven.

The first thing we need to do is understand we’ve sinned (call it made mistakes, erred, grieved others). Go to God and ask forgiveness. Ask to become His child.

No matter what you’ve done, Jeremiah 29:11 shows God’s plan for you. Plans for hope and a future, plans to prosper and not harm.

Don’t believe your childhood lie.

 

4 Comments

  1. vera deford says:

    when I reject something God is saying to me I feel lost’ I have to stop and hear what He is saying (some times has to say it over and over again ) OK I say and wow You mean !!!! and sure enough I am now on the right path. AMAZING He hears and loves us.

  2. Kathy Anderson says:

    I used to believe Lie #2 until my father called and said he wanted to talk to me. Of course, he chose to have a heart to heart and apologize to me while we were doing grocery shopping for him and my mother. I can’t remember everything he said but he apologized for being so hard on me and not telling me when I made him proud with my achievements.

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