Breaking Free From Self-Limiting Beliefs: How to Replace the Lies That Hold Us Back

Our minds have incredible power to influence what we do, say, and how we go about life. It all starts there. All the battles in life are won or lost in our minds, and we have an enemy that knows that.

You have one enemy, and that is the devil, and he is a liar and wants nothing more than to destroy your relationships, your life, and God’s purpose for your life. Peter describes him this way, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8b). He knows that if he can get you to believe that something is true, that really isn’t true you will behave as if it is true.

I have believed some of these lies. I have believed that maybe I’m not really called to ministry because of negative things said that were, I think, meant to be constructive, but I took them personally. I also believed I was supposed to look like people in Hollywood and could never measure up.

These lies have made me insecure and question my calling and worth and put my focus more on what people think than on what God thinks.

Do you have areas of your life where you believe a lie, and it has you in bondage? Are your thoughts about yourself and your worth mostly negative and self-deprecating, causing you to keep people at a distance? Do you feel helpless to change?

My friend, we have to replace those lies with the truth! “Our lives always move in the direction of our strongest thoughts” (Groeschel 1).

The truth about who you are is in the Bible. The Bible tells us who God is and who you are! The powerful living Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword. And it cuts away the lies of the enemy. We must let God’s Word take captive any lies that have held us hostage. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

We fight with the truth that is found in God’s Word. We have to read it, study it, know it, and believe God more than we believe our experience so we can wield it against the lies we believe.

Here are some examples of lies you may believe and the truth that can replace them.

1.     Do you think you are unlovable, worthless, or hopeless?

God’s Word says, “No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39 NIV).

2.     Do you believe that you can’t make a difference? Do you believe you have no skills or gifts that can be used to make the world a better place?

God’s Word says God made you with a purpose and a job. God wouldn’t give you a purpose and job if He won’t give you what you need to do it! “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV).

So, what lie do you believe that is holding you back from all God has planned for you? Write it down in a journal, then open your Bible and discover what God says instead. Cross out the lie and replace it with the truth! You could keep believing you don’t measure up and will never step out and live the life God planned for you.

Further resources:

Groeschel, Craig. Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. Zondervan, 2021.

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