What Lies Are You Believing—and How Do You Break Free?

Speaker A00:00:00

Friend, let me take you somewhere familiar today. Now, I'm not taking it to a church pew, not some Bible study chair. I want to take you to your kitchen, your bedroom, and even your car.Those places where you sit alone all the time. Just picture this, if you will. It's late, the house is quiet, the lights are low.Your phone is bright in your hand, and your mind is just shouting out loud. And you scroll and you compare and you. You replay and you rehearse every single mistake you've ever made. And then it happens.A sentence lands in your chest. I'm behind. I'm not enough. I'll never change. You don't even argue anymore. You just accept it like it's truth, like it's the law. It's in your name.But what if the biggest attack isn't on your life? What fits on your identity? Hey, friend. Ralph Estep Jr. Here. Welcome to Truth Unveiled with Ralph.We pull back the curtain and we call lies what they are. And we hold up God's truth like a lamp. Because Jesus didn't die for you to survive. He died for you to be free.And I want you to hear that from the beginning today. Because here's the tension. We live inside of ourselves. Culture tells us, oh, go. Follow your heart. Speak your truth. Live your truth.But scripture tells you some really completely different things, doesn't it? It tells you your heart can be wounded, your feelings can be loud, your thoughts can be trained. And that truth.I hate to say this, but it can be a trap. But culture goes back and says, wait a minute. Your identity is self made. Name yourself. Define yourself. Oh, hey, reinvent yourself.It's the beginning of the year. We're all reinventing ourselves again. But the gospel says something completely different. It says, identity is received. It's given.It's actually spoken by the one who made you. Now, culture says, you are what you produce, you are what you earn. How many times have we heard that? And you are what you can prove.But that's not what Jesus says. Jesus says, you are worth my blood. You are wanted, you are pursued, and you are called.So let me start with this question today, and I would love if you'd comment right here. As you're watching, who is speaking loudest in your life right now? Is it the world or is it the word? And friend?Listen, if the enemy can't destroy you, he will distort you. He'll whisper lies long enough until you call them. Hey, that's my personality.And he'll accuse you long enough until you call it humility and unfortunately he'll shame you long enough until you call it realism. But it's not realism. I want to use a big word here today. You probably heard this in church circles. It's a stronghold.But here's why strongholds are so important to identify. Strongholds can be demolished. Well, let's start by taking a breath and let's be really honest. You are not the only one fighting this.The National Institute of Mental Health, big institute in the United states, reports that 31.1% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. 31%. That's nearly one in three.So if you're sitting there right now and your mind feels loud, if your body's feeling tense, if your chest feels tight, I want to tell you right now, you're not alone in feeling that way. And here's another one. Research literature often notes that nearly 70%. You heard me right.70% of people experience imposter feelings at some point in their life. So if you ever thought this. And listen, I'm speaking to myself today.If you've ever thought I don't belong here, one of these days they're going to find out I'm not enough. Maybe this one. I'm a fraud. Friend, you're not the only one who feels that way. And here's the observation many of us feel.See, social media doesn't just show lives, it shows narratives. It trains comparison and research review link social media experiences with depression and anxiety concerns. Think about that.We put ourselves in this scrolling social media and what does research tell us it leads to depression and anxiety? Which leads us to the next logical question. What if your feed is feeding your fear? Just think about that for a second.What if what you're feeding in is actually feeding that fear? And what if what you're scrolling is actually strengthening that shame that you're feeling right now? Friend, God is not trying to condemn you today.I'm not trying to condemn you today. He's actually, and I'm actually trying to help you get free today. Let me tell you a story that this isn't some why she dramatic story. It's just real.Picture a person sitting across from you right now. A good person, hard working person, person that cares deeply, tries hard at everything. You might be the person I'm talking to right now.And they start talking about their life. They talk about their family and their, their faith and the stress and those regrets they've had along the way.And then somewhere in the middle, they just Say it out loud like it's a fact, like it's proven, like it's permanent. I'm just not good enough. How many times have you had that? How many times have you said that yourself? I'm just not good enough.Listen, I hear this one all the time. I deal with money. My main job is I'm an accountant. I hear this one. I'm just bad with money. Ralph, how many times have you heard that?Or how many times have you said that about this one? I'm just the kind of person who fails. I just fail at everything I try. And I'm just too far behind. I'm just too far behind to get anywhere.And I'll never forget I spoke across the desk and I said to somebody one time, I said, who told you that? It was just silence. Because the truth is they didn't know who told him that.And when we dug a little deeper, they said to me, it's just always been there, Rob. It's been there for years. It's kind of like background music, like an old voice in the room. You just hear it.You don't know where it came from, but you just constantly hear it. And friend, that's how lies work. That's how lies take their place of being a stronghold. They don't always arrive like a scream.Sometimes they arrive like a sentence, a label, a moment for so many of us. They arrive like a wound about a parent's criticism. Were you wounded by your parents criticisms? I know I was. By the teacher's embarrassment.You can still remember back in third grade getting called out. I remember one particular instant they wanted me to come and read something up front. And how was this?Believe it or not, I was a shy guy, kind of an introvert back then. I guess I'm not that way now. But I go back to that. That teacher's embarrassment. How about a betrayal? How many of us have lived through betrayals?That becomes your identity. A divorce. Divorce hurts people. How about things that happen right in church? A church hurt. Or how about right now?A failure that felt final in your eyes. And you didn't just hear it. It'd be one thing to hear it. We could probably deal with that. But you absorbed it.You just took it all in and you built your whole life around it. And I asked this out of love, right at this moment. What lie have you been obeying? Like it's a command.And if you're brave, put it right in the comments. I'd love to hear it. Well, now let's get Right to the word of God. I always want to talk about the Word as it relates to what we're talking about here.Because God doesn't just expose lies. Here's the best part. He replaces them with truth. Let's get right to our first scripture verse.It comes to us from the Book of John, chapter 8, verses 31 and 32. If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth. Best verse of the Bible, I think.And the truth will set you free. How many times have you heard that?If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples, Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. See, it's all about freedom. And Jesus is speaking to people who believed in him. So he's speaking about people that were with him. They were. They were.His people around him wasn't outsiders. It wasn't mockers. It was believers. These are religious people. This is people who know Bible words. They understood what Jesus was talking about.And he says something shocking. Freedom is connected to truth. Not inspiration, not motivation, not good intentions, truth. But notice the doorway he opens here. Hold to my teaching.Remain in it. Live in it. Stay close to it. See, this, friend, means that truth is not some slogan. A lot of people say, well, it's just a slogan, Ralph.No, truth is a place that you live. Truth is that voice that you actually follow. And truth is a person that you obey. And it also means this.You can be a believer and still be bound by something. If you believe lies about God, if you believe lies about yourself, if you believe lies about your future. Jesus isn't shaming you for that.He's inviting you out of that. So let me ask you this. What if Jesus isn't asking you to try harder, but to come closer? Just think about that for a second.Maybe Jesus isn't saying to you, ralph, go try harder. He's saying, well, just come closer to me. Because what lie is stealing freedom from your soul right at this moment?I would love it if you would share with me in the comments. I read all the comments. Well, let's look at our next Bible verse. You've heard me say on the show a lot of times, I love the book of Romans.Romans 12, verse 2. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Now, this is Paul writing.He's writing to believers living in Rome. Rome was a powerful culture. It was a pressuring culture. A culture that rewarded image and status. Does that sound familiar?To you, sounds like today, doesn't it? And he says transformation isn't accidental. See, this is what he's saying to us, and we gotta absorb this state. You don't drift into renewal.What you drift into is conformity. And it's so easy to drift there, isn't it? So what is he really saying? He's really saying that renewal must be intentional.An intentional definition decision. Because where does he go? He says, the pattern of this world. The pattern of this world, if we're being honest with each other, is loud.It's almost deafening. And it tells you things like perform. Oh, you always got to be on your game. You always got to be performing. People are always watching you.We have more cameras around us than ever. It tells you to prove, oh, you better prove your worth. How much is in your bank account? What's your status? What do you own?It tells you a lie of being perfect. You gotta be perfect. You gotta be perfectly curated. Everything's gotta fit to protect your image. But scripture throws that on its head.Scripture says, renew your mind because your mind becomes your map. And think about a map. If you don't know how to get from point A to point B, what's the map do? It helps you determine your steps.That's exactly what scripture is. Here. If your mind is filled with lies, I'm fixing to say something strong.But if your mind is filled with lies, your life is going to feel like constant bondage. But if your mind is renewed with truth, guess what? Your life begins to breathe again. So let me ask you this, another pointed question.What if your biggest problem isn't your life, but it's the story you keep telling yourself about your life? Just think about that for a second. Is your life really what it is? Or is it the story you built? Is it those hurts? Is it that despair? Is it that pain?Is those. Those wounds that you have? And let me ask you this one, and I ask this out of love again. Who taught you to talk to yourself that way?Seriously, who told you to talk to yourself that way? Again? Feel free to share your comments. I would love to hear from you. Let's go right to Second Corinthians, chapter 10, verses 4 and 5.The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. There's my word for today.We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Now here's Paul talking again. And Paul's talking about talking to believers again. When he's Dealing with spiritual resistance.He dealing with false arguments. He's dealing with things like pride and accusation and manipulations and voices trying to pull believers away from Christ.Hey, does this sound like today? How many voices are you hearing right now? People trying to pull you away from Christ. And what does Paul say? He says this is warfare.Now, I'm not talking about fist warfare, not about politics, not with clapping back online. Modern day. He turned it right. This is a mind war. It's a heart war. And it's very basic. It's a truth war. See, a stronghold is a lie.You've lived so long that it feels like home. This is who I am. This is comfort. I'm bad with money. I never survive at anything. I'm a failure. I'm a complete useless person.How many times have you heard that? Stronghold is a thought pattern that feels automatic. It's just like the tape recorder that goes off in your head. Like, I always ruin things.Whatever I touch breaks. I got the dark cloud over my house about this one. I'm unlovable. How many times have you said to yourself, man, I'm just an unlovable person?How about this one? God is disappointed in me. How many times have you felt that?I'm just stuck in my own self and I'm just talking to myself and I'm saying, you know what, God? How can you possibly love me? You're disappointed in me. Maybe this one, I'm just too far gone. How many times have you felt that one?And listen, the Bible doesn't say, ignore that. What does it say? It says, take it captive. Here's where the action comes into this. It says, grab it, name it, test it, and submit it to Jesus himself.So let me ask you this. What thought has been running your life unchallenged? What are those thoughts that you haven't challenged? You haven't put them up to Jesus?Say, come closer. What's Jesus saying to us? And what if God is really trying to demolish that stronghold on this very day?This could be the moment when that stronghold is finally broken down. Are you going to challenge it today? Let's go to Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 11 and 12. Put on the full armor of God.See, now we're getting strong here, aren't we? So put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.Wow, got goosebumps reading that one. See, Paul's reading again. From a world of pressure and persecution, you don't understand what Paul went through.Paul was in a place of pressure and complete persecution. He was put in jail and he still had joy. See, and believers misunderstood what he said. Believers were being misunderstood.They were being opposed, they were being mocked, sometimes hunted. And guess what? They were being killed. That's the truth of the gospel message. This is what Paul is saying.And what he's saying is, don't misunderstand your enemy. People are not your enemy. Hear me on that. People are not your enemy. Your spouse is not your enemy. A lot of us think, hey, our spouses are enemy.No, they're not. Your co worker is not your enemy.And the commenter that you're seeing on Facebook and TikTok and all those platforms, that commenter is not your enemy. There's a spiritual battle for your very soul. And you know who's behind it? The devil. Because the devil has schemes.You know what his favorite scheme is? Lies. Accusation and shame. And friend, if you think this is only psychology, you miss the spiritual layer to this.See, some lies are emotional, some lies are learned. And some lies are launched like flaming arrows. A sudden thought that just all of a sudden takes you captive.A sudden accusation, a sudden urge to just quit. Oh, I can't do this. I can never make this. And that's why you need armor. And what's the first piece that it needs? The belt of truth.See, truth holds everything together. Let me ask you this. What if you've been fighting people when heaven is asking you to fight lies? Think about that for a second.We've been fighting people, we've been disagreeing with this one and making everybody our enemy. But maybe heaven's been asking us to fight the lies. What scheme has the enemy been using on you? Because that's what the devil's doing.He's using schemes to lie to you. Well, let's weave this together now because I want to share what I come up with today. Five truths. Now, this isn't some lecture. This is a lifeline.Here's the first. Truth. Lies grow in the dark. This is the thing you have to accept. Lies love secrecy. Lies love isolation. And lies love silence.And the reason that is is because you never name it. If you don't name the lie, guess what happens. It never gets challenged. If you don't name it, it never gets healed. It just gets obeyed.It's like, okay, that's the lie. I just gotta accept it. See, friend, one of the holiest things that you can do is say the truth out loud.I going to Challenge you right now, wherever you are, say this out loud. I've been believing I'm not enough. I've been believing I'm not enough. I've been believing God is mad at me. I've been believing God has mad at me.I've been believing I'll never change. See, those are lies. You've been believing that. What if naming it is the beginning of breaking it? So start there. Name it. Let's go on.The truth number two. Your feelings are real, but not lured. Listen, I'm going to say something real strong here. Your feelings are not fake. You feel your feelings.Sounds silly when I say that, but you feel your feelings and they're signals and they matter. And they deserve compassion. So please understand, I'm not tearing you apart and saying you don't. You don't feel these lies. You do.But here's the problem. Feelings make terrible kings because feelings change. Hey, do you feel the same as you did yesterday? Do you feel the same as you did 10 minutes ago?Those things change. Those can't be your king. But truth doesn't change. Truth remains. So if you live by feelings. Man, I'm so guilty of what I'm getting ready to say.When you live by feelings, you rise and fall all day long, don't you? Oh, I'm not feeling good now. Oh, I'm feeling down. Oh, I feel great. Oh, I'm feeling down.You're just constantly on a up and down roller coaster of your emotions. But if you live by truth, you'll have a steady anchor, see? What if your soul doesn't need more emotion but you need more anchor?Do you need more anchor today? Here's truth number three. The enemy uses accusation. That's what the enemy does. But guess what? Jesus uses invitation.See, the enemy lies to you and says, oh, you're disgusting. Oh, Jesus doesn't want you. Nobody wants you. You're unlovable. The enemy says, you're a failure. You never amounted to anything, man.I'm hearing back to my parents now when I was a kid. And I'm not calling them out, but how many times have we heard it? That's the enemy talking. The enemy says, you'll never be free. Those are the lies.Those are accusations. But what does Jesus say beautifully? Jesus says, come to me, come closer to me. Jesus says, follow me, abide in me and learn from me.See, accusation pushes you away because it makes you go farther away. Because then your lies go in the dark. But invitation draws you closer in, doesn't it? So here's a simple text you can use.Every time you think about one of those lies. Does that voice you're hearing move you towards Jesus, or does it move you away from him? Which voice have you been calling your own lately?Has it been moving you closer to Jesus or just pushing you away? Here's truth number four. Freedom is a process, not a switch.A lot of people say Ralph, oh, great, so today you're telling me I'm going to have freedom today? I wish I could tell you that it's a process. There's not some switch I don't have a magic button like, push this button and you're going to be free.Now, sometimes chains break in a moment. There's that all of a sudden, you break that stronghold and you bust it out right away.But from my experience, some chains break in months, some chains don't break for years, and sometimes they break in different layers. But I want to encourage you right now, every step towards truth is that step towards freedom.And every time you take a thought captive, every time you think about those thoughts that have been lying to you, and you take that captive and you fight that and you say to Jesus, hey, I don't believe this anymore. Every one of those, you're rebuilding your mind one step at a time. So don't despise the small progress.Because what I've seen in my own journey here, small progress is how God often heals you. Just one little day, one little step, one little minute at a time. So let me ask you this. What if God is more patient with you than you are?Think about that one for a second. We're not very patient with ourselves, are we? What if God's being more patient than we have it that we're even trying to be? Here's truth number five.You can't renew a mind that you never feed. You gotta step on some toes. Now, if your mind is constantly full of fear, guess what it's gonna produce? It's gonna produce fear.And if your mind is constantly full of shame, guess what it's gonna produce? Shame. But if your mind is fed with God's word, the holy God's word, guess what happens? It begins to change. It changes slowly.It changes surely, and it changes deeply. Right at the point of that anchor, the core bottom line. See, truth is not something you believe. It's not that. Truth is something that you practice.Truth is something that you repeat. Truth is something that you return to when you start hearing those lies. So let me ask you this. What's been feeding your Mind this week.Stop right now, whatever you're doing. What's been feeding your mind this week? Is it truth or is it lies? Is it making you more free or is it making you more bound? Those are the truths.But let me shift this a little bit, and instead of giving you some catchy word, I want to give you a path. I want to give you a simple, real simple something that you can start today. Because if you're stuck under a lie, listen, so many of us are.I don't want to give you another slogan. We got slogans all around us. They don't do anything for us. But what you need is a way forward.So here's my way forward for you today, because I love you, number one thing. Start by calling it what it is. One of the biggest reasons lies stay powerful is is because they stay unnamed. They float around us like fog.So you got to slow down. And you say this. This thought is not neutral. This is a negative thought. This is not just my personality. This is not how I am.Say to yourself, this is a message I've been living under. And then you get specific. Not dramatic, not shame filled, just honest. What is the sentence on repeat in my mind? Start by saying that I'm a failure.Why do you keep saying that? Stop repeating that. Here's the second thing I'm going to encourage you to do. Trace the voice back to its very source.Because the truth is, a lot of what you call your thoughts are actually borrowed voices. I want to step on some toes here. As a parent, I think about what I did to my children, my two boys.They still live with my borrowed voice in their mind, the tone that I shared with them. Think about a coach that you work. Or maybe I had a coach that was super harsh.You had that teacher that was just so sarcastic, you didn't feel like you were getting anywhere. Maybe it's a betrayal. I've been through betrayal. Maybe it's that failure like Ralph. Yeah, but I have failed. Guess what? I failed, too.And I can promise you something. You're going to fail again. Or maybe it's that moment that you've never processed in your mind.You just let it all stay out there and you just lived in that. So that's the second step. You know, Ask yourself, where did I learn to talk to myself like this? What? What makes me sick like that?Where did I start believing that this was true? And here's the most sinister part of it as well. What did this belief steal from me? What did believe in that? Steal from Me wherever, time.Where were you at right now? And here's the big one. Does this sound like a voice that's going to heal me or a voice that just accuses me?Now I'm not saying that God doesn't convict you. God will convict you. That's important. That's the power of the Holy Spirit. But he convicts you to restore you. The enemy accuses you to crush you.See, God wants to restore you. The enemy wants to crush you. Here's the third thing. Hold the thought up to God's character. Now this is something most people skip.We stop asking ourselves, does it feel true? We got to stop asking ourselves that. And we got to start asking, is it true according to God? See, a lot of people live on feelings.Oh, I feel this way, I feel that way, but that doesn't mean it's true. Is it true according to God? Does this thought that you're having match what Jesus taught? Does it sound like the gospel?Is it what they call the gospel truth? Does it line up with what God does with sinners who come to him?Because I'm going to tell you right now, if that thought produces hopelessness or that thought produces shame, or that thought produces isolation or self hatred or fear, that's not the voice of your shepherd. See, truth doesn't just soothe you. Truth rebuilds you. And I'm going to encourage you the next thing, replace silence with a brave sentence.And listen, friend, this matters more than you think. Because lies love quiet, as I said earlier, they grow in the dark. You're going to say Ralph has lost his mind here.But here's what I'm encourage you to do. Practice speaking truth out loud. And I'm not saying to be religious. Stand in the corner and notice that's not what I'm saying.But because you're retraining your mind, this is a retraining process. And you don't need some elaborate speech, some full holy crazy, you know, lined out prayer. That's not what I'm saying. You need one sentence.When you start to feel those lies, say something like this. Jesus is not done with me. I belong to God, not my past. Yeah, that fear is loud, but it's not the Lord, is it? How about this one?I'm not the victim of what happened to me and I'm learning to trust God again. See, that mouth of yours is not decoration. Your mouth is actually direction. And last but not least, stop trying to win this alone.Because this is where most people stall. They try to fight lies in private with Just the willpower. Isolation is a lie's favorite habitat. So you bring one safe person into the story.Now, I'm not telling you to bring everyone, I'm not saying to go out there on Facebook and tell everybody everything that's happened in your life. I think that's a bad plan. But bring somebody and just someone, a trusted friend, somebody that you can confide in.It's not going to share your gossip. If you will. Maybe a pastor. You know, you don't understand. So pastors want to hear from you.Call your pastor, set up an appointment, go sit with them, go have coffee with them. Maybe go see a counselor. I talked about that on the show before. There is no shame in going and talking to somebody in counseling. Guess what?We all need that sometimes. Maybe for you, you just talk to a mature believer, somebody who's been through the ropes, been through the ringer, as they say.Somebody who's seen this before. Or maybe if you're super comfortable, you have a small group that you belong to. Maybe you can share this in your small group.But you need someone who can help you keep your footing when your mind tries to slide back. Because let me tell you right now, spoiler alert, the devil is a liar and he's going to continue to lie to you.You need somebody to help you from going backsliding, called backsliding. That's a big term to use, right? Because what I have seen is healing will multiply in a safe community.And let me tell you right now, freedom will grow faster when you're not alone. And that's one of the reasons we set up our community. I'm going to plug that right now, but I want to encourage you to go check that out. That's it.Truth unveiled with Ralph.com join and I really hope you'll consider that today because you don't have to do this alone anymore. So let me ask you this. What's the thought that keeps coming back right now as you're watching me right now?And ask yourself, where did that voice start? And who is safe enough to help you stay anchored in truth? Now, I want to get practical because truth isn't only something you feel.Truth is something that you live in. You've got to live this. So I'm going to give you some real steps at home, at work, at church, and even in your own inner life.Let's start by talking about what you do at home. The first thing I'm going to encourage you to do is you got to change the soundtrack. We have these Soundtracks all around us.And we wonder why we believe these lies. Pick one scripture for this week and just write it on a card.Put it on your mirror, put it on your dashboard, put it on your refrigerator and just say it out loud, daily. Not some fast robotic motion. Just say it out loud, daily. Just make that your mantra. Just slow, kind of like medicine.And then I'm going to tell you to replace one phrase when you feel that lie coming on, catch that common lie, freeze, and replace it with a truth face. Here's an example. Let's say the lie that you believe is I always mess it up. I mean, that's what. Maybe you're right now.You're like, ralph, I hear what you're saying, dude, but listen, even this, I'm always going to mess this up. Replace that with this. I'm learning God is shaping me. Maybe you always say this lie I can't change. I've said that. Guilty, can't change.Replace that with this. God renews my mind one day at a time. Or maybe this lie and we talk about isolation and just completely people being away from you.Believe I'm alone, but friend, you're never alone. And replace it with this. God is with me. And for me.Let me ask you right now, which of those phrases has been poisoning your home, which I'd love for you to share with me in the comments. Which of those phrases have been poisoning your home? How do you change that? Well, now let's talk about what you can do at work.One of the things I really recommend is what I call the pause and capture routine. Because when the lie hits, when you hear that lie, here's the best thing you can do. Count to 10.Just take a minute and ask yourself, why am I telling myself this right now? Why am I believing the lie that I'm never good enough? Why am I leaving that lie that I always fail and then take it captive and write that down.If you can write down the lie. And you'd be amazed how weak a lie becomes when you put it in ink. Because then you look at it, you're like, wait a minute, that's not me.I'm really not a failure. I got up this morning, I made it to work, people are paying me to do my job.Let me ask you right now, what lie has been ruining your confidence at work? Because, see, here's where the rubber meets the road. You think everybody's got it all together around you. Or guess what?They're just as jacked up as you are. Just as jacked up as I am. Write those lies down. Pause for a second. Wait, why do I believe this lie?Well, now let's talk about what happens at church, because I think there's a lot of growth here. Don't hide in the crowded church. A lot of people think church is a stage for perfect people, but that's not what church is.Let me tell you right now, if you're in church, you are not a perfect person, because the but one perfect person, we nailed him to a cross. Church is a hospital for the hurting. That's really what it is. What did Jesus say? I came here to heal the sick. That's what church is.So when you're at church, tell one safe person, say something like this, I'm battling shame. Can you help me with this? Can we pray together? Can I talk through this with you? Maybe something like, I'm battling fear, man.I hear what the pastor's saying. I hear what they're saying up front. I hear the scriptures. But, man, I'm battling this fear.Or maybe somebody, you just say, listen, I'm battling lies. Because let me tell you right now, the people around you in church, they're battling shame, they're battling fear, and they're battling lies.I'm not saying to do this for pity, but just do it for prayer, for accountability, and, hey, for healing. That's the whole point of church. You go to church to be healed. See, let me ask you this. What if God's answer is attached to someone's hands?Now, let's get real critical. Let's talk about our phones and social media. Here you go. Ralph's getting on his high horse.But I'm telling you right now, friends, this is where I see problems. First thing I'm encourage you to do fast, one comparison trigger. Like, what is he talking about? Just fast.Pick one account, just one app, one habit, one nightly scroll, and just stop doing it for seven days. Just say, you know what? I'm not doing this anymore. I like to scroll on TikTok. That's one of the things I like to do.And I'm getting ready to go to bed at night. I get on TikTok, see what's going on, right? But I think about it. What is that triggering in me? What lies am I believing so fast?Don't do it for seven days. Now, I'm not talking about punishing yourself. Be honest with you. I'm talking about protecting yourself.And that time that you would have spent doing that. Replace it with the word of God. Maybe just. Just talk to Jesus, one on one. Listen, you don't have to have some elaborate prayer.Just talk to Jesus like he's your friend. Jesus, you know, I'm battling this. I don't want to go scroll on TikTok. I want to go scroll on Instagram. But I just want to be with you right now.What did Jesus tell us to do? He said, draw closer to me. Maybe just quietness or just with presents to your spouse or your kids. Because here's the truth. What you feed will grow.If you keep feeding social media, guess what's going to grow? Your social media is going to grow. And what you starve weakens it. Think about this.What if your peace is on the other side of one boundary that you create? Maybe you create that boundary and you find peace that you never expected.See, I believe we put ourselves into these positions where we put ourselves in this shame comparison, struggle. And we do it to ourselves. Let's talk about implementing this in your inner life. Consider this.Recognize those things, ask the questions, investigate, speak and engage when you feel those lies. Do it in the moment, do it in the car, do it after arguments, do it after a bad day, and do it when shame tries to return.Because listen, repetition, telling yourself, I don't believe the lies anymore. I don't have to believe this. When you've had bad day and you want to go back to those lies, that I'm a failure or you'll never get ahead.Stop doing that, friend. Repetition rewires your brain. And truth repeated became a new pathway for you. That's where you walk.And I want to speak to you a little bit deeper because some of you right now are fighting lies because you've never been anchored in the truth to beginning now. I'm not talking about some concept. I'm talking about a person. And that person is Jesus.And maybe right now, maybe right at this moment, you're feeling that pull you feeling that longing, that quiet hope and that whisper from Jesus himself that says, come home now. Listen, Jesus isn't asking you to clean up first. That's not what it's all about. He wants you to come sick. He wants you to come broken.He's just asking you to come. He's asking you to repent. He's asking you to believe. And he's asking you to receive something that doesn't cost you anything, and that's salvation.And friend, maybe you've walked with him before, but you've drifted. We said culture makes it easy to drift. Well, maybe right now you need to recommit maybe a homecoming, you're coming back home to Christ.Maybe a fresh surrender. Are you ready to stop letting lies lead you? Are you ready to let Jesus name you again?If that's you, if that's for you, I want you to pray with me right now. Listen, I don't have any magic words. I don't have any super spiritual things I can say. I just have a real heart for this.Let's pray together right now. Lord Jesus, I admit that I have sinned. And Lord, I've lived my way, the way I felt, the way I thought it was supposed to be.And I believe the lies, Lord. But right now, at this moment, I believe you died for me. And I believe with all my heart that you rose again.And I believe you are the holy Son of God. So right now I just ask that you would forgive me, Lord, wash me clean and make me new. I surrender everything.I surrender my life to you, Lord, and I choose to follow you. And I receive your love, I receive your truth and I receive your salvation. Holy Spirit, fill me. Lead me and teach me. Starting right now.Renew my mind and I assist in Jesus name. Amen. Grant if you prayed that guess what? He heard you. And heaven's not rolling its eyes. Heaven is rejoicing.And they are celebrating that someone else has come home again. So let me say this. You are not the worst thing you've done. You are not the darkest thought you've had.And you're not the lie that's followed you for years, maybe for decades. You're not what shame called you. You're not what fear predicted and you're not what culture demanded. You belong to Jesus. And Jesus is truth.And what did he say? He said truth sets people free. So here's your next faithful step. Don't leave this episode inspired. Leave this episode equipped.I want you to go and join our community at truthunveiledwithRalph.com./join again. That's truthUnveilwith Ralph.com/join. And when you join, we're going to give you a free resource designed for your home.It's called the Family Digital Wisdom Guide.Because we're not just fighting lies in our minds, we're fighting lies in what we consume, what we allow, what we repeat, and unfortunately, what we've normalized. And, friend, you don't have to do that alone anymore.We're building a place of truth, a place of grace, a place of steady encouragement, and a place where shame loses its microphone. Why don't you join that at truthunveiledwith Ralph.com/join. Let's pray together right now. No pressure, just an open heart.Father, thank you for loving me with steady love. Thank you. That truth is not a weapon. But truth is truly a rescue. And Lord Jesus, I confess I have believed these lies.I've repeated them, I've obeyed them. But right at this moment, I release the lie that I'm not enough. I release the lie that I can't change.And Lord, I release the lie that you are against me. Holy Spirit, right at this moment, renew my mind. Teach me your voice and make truth louder than the shame. Bring healing into my memories.Bring light into my thinking, Lord, and bring peace into my body. And Lord, help my family live this truth as well. Help our home feel safe.Help our words bring life to other people and help our screen serve you and not shape us. We surrender it all to you right now. In Jesus name, Amen.I want to give you my main takeaway in one sentence that encapsulates everything we talked about today. You break free when you stop agreement with lies and start abiding in truth. So Lord, seal this word in everyone's hearts.Let the truth be louder than shame. Let the stronger be stronger than fear. And let freedom be real in their homes. And is this in Jesus name, Amen. I love you friend.God bless you and I'll see you next time.