The Bible teaches at least five steps in God’s healing process. If you want God to bring healing to hurtful memories, from recollections of the past that cause you pain, step three is this:
Replace people’s lies with God’s truths.
Your brain records everything you experience – things you’ve smelled, things you’ve seen, heard, touched, tasted – it’s all there recorded in your brain. In regards to the things people have said to you, your brain doesn’t distinguish between what’s true and false, good and bad, right and wrong. It just records whatever it hears. This is a problem because sometimes people say mean and hurtful things that are totally untrue – and all too often we believe peoples lies and act accordingly. Maybe someone told you:
- You’re stupid
- You’re ugly
- You’re never going to amount to anything
- I’m embarrassed to call you my child
- You’re uncoordinated
- You’re dumb
- Why can’t you be smart like your sister/brother?
- You’re worthless!
All these things are recorded in our brains and we often make the mistake of believing the lie and acting accordingly.
I drink deeply of peoples words. I can be lifted to the highest heights by a compliment or plunged to the deepest depths by peoples words. That’s just the way I’m wired. Words deeply affect me. So it was very difficult in elementary school when I was severely made fun of for having really big ears. I’ve grown into them now but they were this size even when I was little, and as a result I was made fun of a lot. But fortunately for me, I was raised in a Christian home and even at a young age knew that even if certain classmates didn’t think highly of me, my parents sure did and so did God. I’m an emotionally healthy person today because I chose to believe the truth of God instead of the lies of other people.
Friend – you’ve got to replace peoples lies with God’s truths if you want to find healing from past hurts. Romans 12:2 says “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” The Bible is clear: God transforms us by teaching us to think differently. You need to fill your mind with God’s Word – the Bible. The more you fill your mind with the Bible, the more it will start erasing the old lies, which will be replaced with God’s truth. You’ve got to replace the lies with the truth. This happens as you read, study and memorize God’s Word. As you read the truth of God’s Word, you have to choose to believe what God says about you.
- God says you are his “masterpiece.”
- God says you are the pinnacle of his creation. When he created everything else God only said “and it was good.” But when He created mankind he said “and it was very good.”
- God says you are valuable. God paid a super high price for your redemption – the price of the blood and life of his one and only Son Jesus. But it was worth it to God. So God not only says that you’re the pinnacle of his creation, his masterpiece, but God also says you are of great worth and value to him!
Friends – these are the things you need to fill your mind with! This is the truth and this truth needs to replace the lies you’ve been told. If you’ll do this, God will bring healing to the hurts that have come from what people have said to you.
Psychologists have proven over and over again that the way you see yourself – your self-esteem, your self worth, your self-concept – is largely determined by what you think the most important person in your life thinks about you. The way you see yourself tends to be based on what you think the most important person in your life thinks about you. So I want to suggest to you that you make God the most important person in your life. Because He’s going to tell you the truth even when others might lie to you. So you have to decide. Are you going to listen to liars (You’re worthless! You’re nothing!) Or are you going to listen to what God has said about you in the Bible (that you are valuable, acceptable, loveable, forgiveable, capable, useable, etc)? Who are you going to believe? When you believe lies it only prolongs your pain, so God’s says to replace people’s lies with His truth. This is step three in God’s healing process.