Are you using your sword?

posted by Erin Davis on 11/11/09 | Twitter: @ErinGraffiti
Category: Myself; ; 11 comments

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:13–14).

"But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart'" (1 Samuel 16:7).

"The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord" (Psalm 45:11).

Suddenly I knew I had been lied to.
sword
For years I struggled to accept my own beauty and value. I believed lies like "you have to be perfect in order to be loved," "everyone else is thinner and more beautiful than you are," "your value is tied to your weight," and "there's no such thing as too thin." It wasn't long before I started to dwell on those lies. Then I started to act. Before I knew it I was in bondage. And I didn't even know I had been lied to.

But that changed when I got serious about turning to God's Word for truth. When I read passages like the ones above and chose to accept them as truth, those lies suddenly lost their hold on my heart. God's Word became a spotlight pointing to areas that I'd been deceived.

This is the mystery spelled out by Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

God's Word is the sword we must use to defend ourselves against the lies told by the world and by the evil one. It is also the shovel we must use to uproot lies once they have taken root in our hearts. We cannot live lives committed to God's truth without loving and reading God's Word.

Many of you have told me that you also struggle in the areas of beauty and worth. My advice? Dig into God's Word. Others of you struggle with boy craziness or the need to have affirmation from a boy. Dig into God's Word. Some of you are wrestling with the consequences of past sins. Dig into God's Word. Some of you don't know where you've been deceived, but your lives are a mess and you sense that something isn't right. Dig into God's Word.

The Bible is so much more than a book. It is living and active. It is a sword that has the power to slice lies right out of our lives. Have you picked up your sword today? 

Comments

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    His Girl
    WOW
    on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 7:30 am
    I love the verses and the way you put it!! Man i do need to start using God's Word as my sword, not my own thoughts... THANKS so much for everything!!!!
    Scharfie
    Awesome
    on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 9:51 am
    The last paragraph that says that the Bible is living and active really hit me. That is so true. And it is so awesome to think that in our time and many many years ago, His word was still live and active! Even though our world changes His Word never does! :)
    Gods Jewel
    Thanks
    on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 12:22 pm
    WOW that encouraged me. I guess i need to start using his word as a sword, not just as a help in trouble.
    Lets pick up our weapon against Satan!!!
    Payton
    Re:
    on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 4:44 pm
    I love those verses! Psalm 139 is actually my favorite psalm.
    elaina
    How?
    on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 8:35 pm
    How do you get yourself to want to change in the first place? I don't want to stop worrying about how I look, because if I do, I might slack off on eating healthy and working out and gain weight. If I accept myself, if feels like I am being prideful. I have prayed to God to help me to want to change, but how do you do it? Does anyone else struggle with this too?
    Anonymous
    Re:
    on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 2:01 pm
    i like being small and i try hard to stay that way cuz i like it when i getover 98 lbs i start feeling guilty and donteat much is that wrong
    \
    Audrey
    Sword and spade
    on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 6:07 pm
    You might need your sword to defend yourself, but you also need your spade to dig deep into God's Word. Sorry, just felt the comparison and had to put it down
    Audrey
    Anonymous
    on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 6:09 pm
    Don't feel guilty. Your growing and that's part of life. I know how you feel though, I used to feel that way when ever I got over 70 lbs. I've alwys been the good sized shrimp and thought that I need to stay where I was.
    Audrey
    To Elaina
    on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 6:32 pm
    I don't struggle as you do, but I do have some advice and questions. How long have you been eating healthy and working out? If you've been doing it long enough, you'll have a habit. You still need to watch it though. Satann is evil and he will do anything to get you back to worrying about yourself again.

    If you accept yourself, period, you might be a little prideful. Instead, you should accept yoursefl more like, "God made me cool. He made me perfect in every way." The more that you think about how much God made you, cares about you, and watches over you, the less you'll feel like you're prideful.
    Jerome
    weight and beauty.
    on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 11:43 pm
    I as a man see a few text that should be corrected. Instead of trying to lead young women, or anyone for that matter, not to feel bad while compairing their appearance with the appearance of others, it would be better to discuss how we are all made beautiful the way Jesus intended. Early on in history, beauty was linked to how well one took care of her/himself, and this aspect of beauty I feel is important. We all still should take better care of our vessels. We want our bodies to look "good" the same way we want "good" to be in (GOD is good) in us. That is best done by of course keeping our fat, and nutrition, not necessarily weight, in check. The worse thing to do is to get the idea that we shouldn't care or focus on our body faults, mainly the ones that are created by life style. Still, all the hard work that was put into this book and web page is appreciated. God Bless!
    Erin Davis
    Jerome
    on Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 2:44 pm
    I couldn't agree more. In fact, if you read the body of posts on this topic, you'll see that this is a common theme. But as blogs are best if kept brief, this isn't a point I can make every time I talk about beauty. But here are some other posts to check out...

    http://www.liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/index.php?id=311

    http://www.liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/index.php?id=312

    http://www.liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/index.php?id=313

    Grace and Peace!

    Erin

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