Jesus is quoted more than anyone in history. Even people who don’t believe in His deity repeat His words in support of a point they are making. Some those who weren’t His followers said He spoke the best words ever, words that no one has ever before spoked (John 7:46). Satan can’t keep the truth Jesus spoke from reaching people, but he can confuse things and muddy the water by changing some things Jesus said, just a little bit. It often doesn’t take much to turn the truth into a lie. When these are then attributed to Jesus, people think they are true. Let’s look at some examples:
FOLLOW YOUR HEART. Sure, Jesus wants us to be happy. He gave us a free will and many wonderful options in life. But He never said our feelings should be our final authority. Jesus called us to follow Him, not our heart (Matthew 4:19; 9:9). Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” How can we follow our heart if that’s the case? Following Jesus often means doing the opposite of what our heart wants. It means living in total obedience to His will. Disney makes following your heart sound romantic and self-fulling, but it is self-centered and rebellious. It totally fails.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Yes, Jesus wants us to have confidence in the person we have become in Him, but our full confidence needs to be totally based on Him. Who and what we are needs to be founded on Jesus and His Word. Our belief is to be in Him, not ourselves (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9). Believing only in ourselves means failure, believing in who we are in Christ and what He can do in and through us brings fulfillment and joy.
BE TRUE TO YOURSELF. This may sound right and noble, but it is totally self-serving and self-centered. It means I am number one in my life. I become my own idol. I meet my own needs first. I put what I want above everything else. The only real satisfaction in life comes when we are true to Jesus and put Him first. He came to offer us a new identity in Him and to save us from our sinful behaviors in life. He came to change us, not fulfill us in our sins. Jesus calls us to radical self-denial. Matthew 16:24 quotes Jesus as saying, “if anyone would come after Me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Jesus continued by saying, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.”
LIVE YOUR TRUTH. Yes, it is important to be faithful to what we believe. But our beliefs must be based on God’s truth as revealed in His Word, not on our own lust and greed. In John 14:6. Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life.” We must live His truth as revealed in His Word. We cannot make our own truth. God’s truth is the only truth and we must live it. When we “live our truth” we live a lie that puts us in bondage. It is the truth of Christ sets us free. “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The verb, “know”, here in Greek, describes a oneness, a relationship with God, who is truth. Within this relationship, God liberates us from sin and falsehood, offering freedom and new life in Christ.
DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY. Happiness seems to be the goal of everyone today. Advertisements, music, everything focuses on us doing what is necessary to make us happy. Happiness has become an idol to many Christians. God never promises to make us happy but to make us holy. Misunderstanding this is at the heart of many marriage breakups as well. in Matthew 8:26 Jesus says “What good is it if a man gains the whole world and loses his soul?” True happiness does not come in things we own or events we experience. it comes from the fruit of God’s Spirit working inside of us. Happiness is shallow, but deep blessing and contentment from Him goes much deeper. Jesus says “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). That makes our priorities very clear. Happiness is fine when we have it, but not a goal to seek above all else. It is not something God owes us, at least not in this life. God has never promised us happiness. In fact, he promises the opposite. He promises we will face suffering and persecution if we follow Him. John 15:20.
God’s purpose for us in this world is to grow and mature to become more like Jesus and to bring glory to Him. It’s all about Him, not all about us. We are here to serve Him, not Him to serve us.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Which of these lies are you most tempted to believe? What truth of God’s shows it to be false?
Are there other lies along these lines that you must be aware of?
Pray and ask God to give you wisdom and discernment to see the lies and strength to turn from them.
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India & Africa & Spanish Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
Copyright © 2025