The Comparison Lie

 

When I was 3 years old, I was the prettiest loveliest most adored little girl. I was convinced of it. I remember the compliments. I remember the birthday gifts. I remember people’s attention on me. I was loved and cherished. All of these things were true about myself. But they didn’t seem to ring so true as time went by.

I found out I had an older sister. She was beautiful. She was also good at everything she did. I wanted to be like her but it didn’t seem as if she wanted any type of relationship with me. And then the comments began… You know, the comparison comments. “Why can’t she be more like her… Why can’t she do what she does?” And this is where all insecurity begins: at the root of comparison.

I began to question myself, and one lie led to another. “I’m not that pretty. I’m not that astute. I’m not that loved, liked or enjoyed” As a child, I was particularly insecure about my lips. I was made fun of at school and the comments at home just made it worse. I began to think that perhaps in the future I could get surgery. But for the time being, I will try to hide my lips as much as possible. Sometimes my siblings would even say that my lips were getting smaller.

Isn’t it crazy how little lies prompt us to hide the most beautiful parts of ourselves?

When I was a teenager, I realized my lips were actually really beautiful. I began to embrace that part of myself and see it in a completely different light. But that wasn’t until I embraced the truth. There has not been one lie I have ever believed that hasn’t fallen off because of the overwhelming power of a truth. This is not a mind exercise or a simple reminder: this is a work of the heart.

The lies I believed did not just enter my mind, they entered my heart as well. They bruised me. They hit my self-esteem. For that lie to be fully eradicated, I did not just have to come out of agreement with it and renounce it: I had to let the truth have its full work in me. I had to let it penetrate my heart and lift me up.

This is true not just of lies pertaining our bodies and self-image. This is true about every single lie we have ever believed about ourselves, about God, about people and the world we live in.

What lies have you believed that need the full work of Truth in your heart today?

"And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free" John 8:32 ESV