Step 2: Truth vs. Deception
Last year, after walking a group through Step 2, an 83 year-old woman said to me, “I used to believe that an attractive body and personality would get me what I desire. I don’t believe that anymore. If I did, I’d be in trouble!”
Merriam Webster defines deception as, “the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid.”
We face three sources of deception, the world, the flesh and the devil.
The apostle John records Jesus’ description of the devil: “He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Wow. Five times in one verse Jesus tells us that the devil is a liar by his very nature.
Paul expressed concern for us, the Church, in 2 Corinthians 11:3 when he said, “I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (CSB).
The problem is, we don’t realize the ways in which we are deceived. By very nature of deception, we think that what we are believing is truth.
That’s why it’s so important to go to Jesus, as in The Steps to Freedom, Step 2, ‘Truth vs. Deception.’ Because Jesus, who is the truth (John 14:6), and who sent the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of truth, John 14:17) to guide us into all truth (John 16:13), will reveal to our minds the ways we have been deceived.
Chris Campbell, one of our Field Staff in West Virginia and our youth specialist here in the US ministry, uses the Johari Window in his new youth leader training video series (to be released soon!) to describe why it is so important for us to seek Jesus and ask Him to reveal the ways we have been deceived.
As you can see from the diagram, there are areas of a person’s life known by themselves and revealed to others. This is the open arena of life. These are the things we all know about each other because they are clear and / or we like to talk about them.
Then, there are the areas of life hidden from others. This is usually due to shame and guilt which causes us to hide from (see John 3:17-21 for Jesus’ description of why people keep things hidden).
The problem is that there are areas of each of our lives that are unknown to ourselves. They may be what is called a blind spot, those areas we don’t see about ourselves, but that are evident to others. And then there are the unknown areas of our thinking that influence us on a regular basis. Yes, we are redeemed children of God who are new creations in Christ. And at the same time, “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8, CSB). Thankfully we are no longer defined by our sin, but it does still live deep within our flesh habits and patterns.
That’s why it is so important to submit to God, the omniscient, or all-knowing One. He is able to reveal to us the things that are unknown to us and others, but which are impacting our life.
And that’s why it is so important to stay in God’s Word on a regular basis. Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, prayed “Sanctify them be the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17, CSB)
When we know God’s truth, we can recognize the deceptions of the world, the flesh and the devil. Sometimes, it takes a direct revelation from God’s Spirit to reveal areas of deeper deception.
Consider submitting to the Lord through Step 2, Truth vs. Deception, in order to allow Him to reveal another area of your life in which you have been negatively affected.