Lose the Lies of the Past....

....gain true perspective on life.

Arterburn (2007) excerpt:

If you accept the challenge to change your life, you will have to face moments of pain from the past you might prefer be left alone, deal with relationship difficulties, and make changes in possibly all aspects of your lifestyle and habits.

Once you fully surrender the battle for change to God, you must open your eyes to reality and stop lying to yourself or making excuses.

Incredible insight concerning truth is offered by Fyodor Dostoevsky in his novel The Brothers Karamazov:

The important thing is to stop lying to yourself. A man who lies to himself, and believes his lies, becomes unable to recognize the truth, either in himself or anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself as well as others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love and, in order to divert himself, having no love in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal, in satisfying his vices. And it all comes from lying-- lying to others and to yourself.

The "take-away" for me as I read this chapter in Arterburn's book is the importance of laying aside delusions and attaining perspective based upon reality. A crass way of saying this is that we are prone to lie to ourselves; and, as Dostoevsky claims, there are dire consequences.

Let's bring it down to earth....For some, the lies may be that we can do things counter to good physical health and believe that we will suffer no consequences. For others, the lies may take the form of believing that no one loves us. We are all very unique beings and have very different stories. My lies are not your lies and your lies are not my lies. But what's important is that we face them squarely and seek to live our lives on truth.

If you have stuck with this post all the way to this point-- take a few more minutes and do yourself and those around you a big favor. Ask the Lord to reveal just one of your lies....think about the consequences....and commit to change your ways (or beliefs). Deal?

[By the way, if you enjoy reading this blog, share it with others. Thanks!]