#3 Lies Christians Believe

God is geater

Maybe God isn’t who you think He is. He’s much better. This series will help you identify some Christian clichés we’ve all heard somewhere before but they are actually un-biblical lies. These clichés although innocent, are harmful to our faith and they keep far too many believers stuck in spiritual immaturity. Let’s replace these clichés with truths about God from the Bible, that will bring encouragement and freedom to our lives.

First posts in this series:

#1 Lies Christians Believe

#2 Lies Christians Believe

Scriptures

¹⁸ “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

²⁰ He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:18-23

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. 1 John 3:19-24

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Follow your heart.

We have all heard the saying or the piece of advice to “follow your heart”.  But should we really?

When we need help with a life decision, or wisdom and guidance, we speak to loved ones, people we look up to and respect, or even professional counsellors, and many of these conversations end with the same sort of counsel: “Just do what your heart tells you” or “follow your instincts”. This advice is given as if your heart is infallible and that your heart will never lead you astray.  As if your heart is a GPS that will always lead you in the right direction, you won’t get lost, it will warn you if you about to make a bad decision and will leap for joy when you about to make an excellent decision.  Wow! That sounds great. But, it’s not true. 

The word Heart

The word heart, In the Bible, represents the epicentre of our feelings, desires, and emotions. It also says this about the heart – “9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). 

When we take the advice to follow our hearts, this is what leads us to being all over the map with our decisions.  You let your feelings, desires and emotions steer for you.  Unfortunately, if we are honest with ourselves, many Christians are just that—all over the map; completely lost in direction, no stability and functionality in their daily lives. 

The Spirit

To help you make decisions when asking those all-important questions (What career should I choose? Which school should I attend? With whom should I be in a relationship?), God has given you the greatest communicator of all time, Himself! Jesus has given you His Spirit. The Spirit, our helper, who now dwells inside you, speaks to you through His Word, the Bible. He leads you. Your feelings won’t be your guide; Jesus will. He is your never-failing GPS.

Our world says, “Do what feels right.” Do you think this has damaged our culture? Why or why not? 

This is a great opportunity to think about your own story. Write your story of when you became a Christian (when Jesus gave you a new heart).

Truth: 

Don’t follow your heart. Follow Jesus.

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