Satan's Lies

 

Satan is a liar.  And he laughs about that and at us. 

"And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced.

(Moses 7:26)."

I've been thinking about that a lot lately.  

He laughs and he lies.  Specifically in Moses it says when we don't show love to one another, but contend and find reasons to hate.  

One of the best ways I have found to combat those lies is to identify them and name them. 

At school we have a student who when he gets upset flies quickly into a rage and will cover his face and say repeatedly "I'm just a piece of #%|<<."  

It's what he has heard hundreds of times growing up.  Those who said it to him mostly likely learned it from someone else shouting it at them.

No wonder Heavenly Father weeps.

When he was calm we said, "I'm sorry they told you that lie.  It's simply not true.  You are wanted, you matter and you belong here with us."

It's still hard to be patient in outbursts and we still require him to be safe and are holding him accountable to appropriate responses.  His hurting doesn't give him the license to hurt others. 

But all of us have those lies that play in our heads.  Some were told to us by others.  Some we've created on our own due to insecurity, personal weaknesses, mental health struggles, the slant of society's teachings or comparison.  And Satan laughs and magnifies them.

But let's learn to name those lies and where they truly come from.  And lets replace them with truth.

"I am a terrible mother".  No, parenting is a long, hard imperfect gig.  No one gets it all right.  Perfect mothers don't exist. You are making mistakes along the way but you are doing your best and learning and trying and committed to loving your children. 

"I fail at everything I do."  (This is one of my favorites).  No, when you are tired you hyper focus on the negatives and fail to see the good you do.  That's all you may be seeing at this moment, but it's not all that you do. You need rest. 

"Everyone else has it all together. Why can't I?" No, all people can pull enough of life together to look good for a split second through a filter.  Some people share that publicly.  Some people don't.  Either way all people have moments that are share-worthy and moments that aren't.  And all people deserve love in both kinds of moments. 

Whatever that lie is you are feeling today, name it and counter it with truth from the Savior who is our complete source of healing and strength. 

Because Satan will never stand by his lies, he just laughs.