Opening Prayer: O Lord, help me to believe the truth about myself, no matter how beautiful it may be. ~Macrina Wiederkehr
Scripture: John 8:31-32
Journal: What is the story you are telling yourself these days? What are the false narratives that hold you captive? How will you allow the truth to set you free?
Reflection: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, ESV)
“Don’t let the false
narratives keep you at their mercy. The story you are telling
yourself is rarely the story that’s actually true.” That was the
message from my time with Jesus this morning.
I’ve been thinking a lot
lately about false narratives, those I live by and those that I allow to hold
me captive. The lies I’ve bought into about myself, my world, and
even my God, that make me the absolute worst version of myself. They
make me fearful and anxious and insecure. They make me busy and
driven and manipulative. They call me to acquire and compare and compete. They
tell me I need to earn and achieve and perform, all in hopes of convincing
myself and my world that I am actually worthy of being loved. And
until I realize that I am already loved, and therefore of infinite value and worth,
I will never really be able to love anyone else. I will be too busy
trying to extort and manipulate love out of them.
I don't know what your false narratives tell you, but mine tell me I am not enough—not talented enough, not gifted enough, not skilled enough, not smart enough, not attractive enough, etc. And they tell me I suck: I suck as a writer, I suck as a worker, I suck as a son, I suck as a husband, I suck as a dad, I suck as a friend, I suck as a man, I suck as an everything.
When I am believing these lies, they cause me to interpret everything in light them—which is actually oh so dark. In turn, this causes me to create narratives for others that do not exist and assign motives that are simply not true, which just reinforces the lies I believe about myself and my world, only making them stronger. It is a downward spiral that is impossible to pull out of unless Jesus—the way the truth and the life—intervenes. When I let these voices control and consume me, my neediness and fear and insecurity rule the day. It’s astounding, and more than a little baffling, that I give these voices the free rein that I do.
Then Jesus comes along and
tells me the truth: “You are seen, you are known, and you are deeply
loved. You are of infinite value and worth and do not have to do
anything to prove it. You don’t have to do anything to justify your
existence. You don’t need others to give you your value and your
identity because I have already done that. Let my love be the basis
and the foundation for everything you do. Don’t let the false
narratives hold you hostage, I came to tell you the truth. Abide in
my word and you will know the truth and the truth will set you
free. For if you are not free, it means that you are believing
something that is not true. So stop listening to the lies and start
believing the truth.”
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