Satan, the Father of Lies

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire.  He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."  (John 8:44)

Have you ever really thought about this verse before, about what it means for our lives, practically-speaking?

Satan is the father of lies.  Therefore, every time we tell a lie or believe a lie, we are aligning ourselves with Satan, essentially calling him "father."  And aligning ourselves with Satan opens the door to demons, to evil, to demonic attacks, to more lies, etc.  It takes us out from under the protection of God and makes us vulnerable to Satan and his schemes.  And the longer we live with those lies or the stronger we hold onto them, the more numb we get to the Holy Spirit.  And the more numb we are to the Holy Spirit, the deeper we will go into sin and into feelings of discouragement, hopelessness, and helplessness.  

Lies give Satan a foothold, an inroad, into our lives.  It's essentially rolling out the welcome-mat to him, saying, "Come on in!"

There are the obvious lies such as "I'm always right, everyone else is always wrong ... All those who disagree with me or don't see things my way are bad ... I have to hurt others before they hurt me ... They're all just jealous of me ... I could never forgive them ... I'm never as bad as they are ... I never do anything wrong, etc." 

And there are self-protective lies like "I have to put my desires first ... I must have my 'needs' met ... I can't trust anyone ... Everyone's always out to get me ... I'm always the victim, etc."  

There are those self-defeating lies that hurt our self-esteems: "No one loves me ... I can't do anything ... I'll never amount to anything ... I'm unforgiveable, etc."  These are whole lies, with no truth in them, because God loves you, enough to die for you (John 3:16, Romans 5:8), and you can do anything through Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13), and God is working out His plan in your life to complete the good work He started in you (Philippians 1:6, Ephesians 2:10), and Jesus died so that your sins could be forgiven, regardless of what they are (1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 2:2, 2 Cor. 5:21), and so it's not about being "forgivable" because forgiveness can't be earned (if it could be then Jesus didn't need to die).  Your sins have already been paid for because of what Jesus did.  Forgiveness is already available, a free gift that you just have to accept in humble thankfulness.   

And then there are the trickier lies, the ones that aren't as obvious or as whole, but that are discouraging half-truths/half-lies.  Those thoughts that only tell half the story, the damaging part.  Those lies with enough truth in them to make you believe them but enough lie in them to damage you: "I'm unworthy ... I'm not good enough ... My life is a mess ... etc."  

There may be a bit of truth in there, but it leaves off the part that makes all the difference:  

"In and of ourselves, we are not worthy or good enough to earn eternal life or God's love or peace or joy or whatever ... but (and here comes the part Satan doesn't want you to realize) ... we don't have to be worthy enough or good enough to earn these things because it's not about being worthy enough or good enough.  It's not about earning them.  God knew we could never be worthy enough or good enough, and that's why He sent Jesus to die for us.  He loves us not because we deserve it but just because we are His creation.  And He loved us enough to send Jesus to die for us, while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), because He wants us near Him.  He wants us in heaven with Him and He wants to help us clean up our messy lives so that He can make something beautiful out of them.  And He knew we couldn't do it ourselves.  And that's why He offers Himself to us, free of charge.  His love, forgiveness, help, peace, joy, healing, etc. are all free for the taking.  Because He wants us to take them.  Because He loves us.  Just because He does.  Because He is love (1 John 4:8-9).  

But Satan counts on our feelings of unworthiness to prevent us from embracing God's free gifts.  Satan tries to trick us into thinking we have to earn them, to work for them, thinking that we have to do it ourselves.  Because if he can keep us busy trying to earn them or to work for them or to do it on our own, we'll never realize that these things can't be earned or worked for in the first place, that we can't do it on our own anyway, that we desperately need God, and that it's okay to desperately need God.  Because that's the way God made it, the way He wanted it to be.  He wants us to need Him.  And His gifts and His help are already available to us and simply need to be accepted.  

Maybe our lives are a mess and more than we can handle.  But that's ok.  Because God is in the business of loving messy people, of helping clean up messy people, of making something beautiful out of the messes in our lives.  That's His job!  Our job is to let Him do it, to need Him.  A messy life isn't permanent and it isn't a waste.  In fact, in the Bible, God does His best work with messy people.  So don't get discouraged about a messy life.  Let it be an invitation to God to help you, to make something good out of all the bad (Romans 8:28)."

A half-truth ends up being a whole lie if you leave off the part that matters most!

But Satan doesn't want us to remember the second half, the biblical truth, the part that defeats the lie.  He just wants us to believe the lying half, the tiny bit that hurts us.  But if we want to live the life God wants for us, we need to make an effort to find out what the whole truth is, to replace the lying parts with His truth.  

If we embrace lies, letting them into our hearts and minds, we will begin to operate according to them, which means that we will be living under the sway of Satan, letting him guide our thoughts.  And it will affect our lives, hinder our walk with God, lead us more and more away from Jesus, and potentially harden our hearts as we resist the truth and embrace the lies more and more.  (Romans 1:25, 28)

Just look at the mess our society is in, and even the church, as they have slowly replaced God's truth with lies over the years.  They have preferred the lies to God's truth, and now we are seeing the consequences of it!  (And there will be a heavy price to pay!) 

Satan is the father of lies.  Every lie brings you one step closer to him, one step farther away from God.  

But Jesus is the truth (John 14:6).  And so denying the truth is essentially denying Jesus and choosing evil (1 John 2:4, Psalm 101:7).  And if we deny Jesus, He will deny us (Matthew 10:33, Revelation 21:8).  

So if you want to stay near Jesus, you need to live in truth.

I think it's important for each us, at various times throughout our lives, to go before the Lord in prayer and ask Him these questions (and listen for His answer over the following days, weeks, months):  

What lies have I told?  

What is the truth that I need to replace those lies with?  

What do I need to do about the lies I've told, if anything?  (God may ask you to take steps to fix the damage your lies have caused.  But at the very least, confess the lies to God, thank Him for dying for those sins on the cross and for His forgiveness, and tell Satan that, in Jesus's name, he has no power over you in that area anymore.)  

What lies or half-truths have I been believing about myself, others, God, or life?  

Which hurtful lies or self-protective lies do I regularly tell myself?  

What biblical truth should I replace those lies with?  (Actually write it down.  Write down the lie, cross it out, and replace it with the Truth, with Bible verses to back you up.)

Is there anything I need to do or change in my life to stop living the lie and start living the truth?  

Is there a vulnerable area in my life or heart that I need to watch out for, that I may need to bring to the Lord for His help to prevent future problems?   

If you are walking around living a defeated life because you have allowed lies to interfere with your walk with God, with your relationships with others, with your peace and joy and hope, with your self-esteem, then take some time in prayer to ask God to help you examine your heart for any lies or half-truths you are living with.  Ask Him to help you replace those lies with His truth.  It may hurt at first, like a necessary surgery, but it will be worth it!

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  (John 10:10)