Dishonesty and untruths leave people stuck, in bondage, addicted, abused, and in pain.
The truth sets people free.
Any time we begin to see truth, our minds, our hearts, our very lives begin to be free. Truth brings freedom.
When I feel stuck in a situation, or controlled by someone/something, it helps to take a step back and ask myself “what am I believing that may not be true?”
I’ll give you a couple of small examples from everyday (Pirate Family) life.
Lie 1: I am lazy
Once upon a time I was feeling exhausted and burned out and couldn’t seem to keep our home cleaned to my own standards. I was afraid I must be lazy if I couldn’t even keep our bathroom clean and our floors vacuumed.
When I took a step back, I realized I had every reason to feel exhausted and burned out. I was homeschooling three children, I was running a business from home, and I was recovering from a couple of significant injuries. I wasn’t lazy. I was trying to do too many things, and I am only one person. The more I accepted truth, the more I saw the way out. Because the truth brings freedom.
Truth: I am intentional about where I spend my time.
I started researching local housekeeping businesses. Because while I CAN clean my own home, heavy scrubbing was aggravating my injuries and making it much more difficult to heal. While I CAN clean my own home, my higher priority is the education of my kids. While I CAN clean my own home, my time is better spent running my business – because no one else can do that.
I found a fantastic local housekeeping service (after several not-so-great experiences with others), and I have been happily hiring them to clean my home for several years now. They come in once per month to deep clean the bathroom, vacuum and mop floors, and dust the main living areas. And I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have some of the heavier tasks taken care of. I’ve been able to use the time they save me on business tasks, and on homeschool subjects that require more direct attention.
Lie 2: Cooking healthy and delicious meals for my family is very time-consuming
Sometimes it feels like I have the choice between having quick ready-made meals for my family (that are unhealthy), or spending ridiculous amounts of time in the kitchen chopping and prepping. And while I love cooking, and watching people enjoy the food I prepare for them, let’s face it: family life is hectic and I don’t always have two hours to spend in the kitchen.
Truth: I can cook delicious and healthy dinners for my family with minimal prep time.
The author of The Whatever Mom blog created a fantastic chili recipe that suits perfectly for busy days. And it doesn’t get much easier than browning some meat and dumping ingredients in a slow cooker. CAN I make this recipe more homemade? Of course. I can make my own taco seasoning blend of spices and cook the beans myself. But on a busy day, you better believe I’m grabbing the store-bought taco seasoning and the canned beans. And I have zero regrets about that.
Truth Brings Freedom
The more I acknowledge where I feel stuck and frustrated, and the more that I recognize untruths I am believing, the more the truth brings freedom into my heart and mind.
If you’re feeling stuck and frustrated, I suggest sitting down with paper and a pen, and answering some of these questions. Pondering the answers to these questions may help you discover some untruths you are believing
- What is the specific thing that is making me feel stuck or frustrated or stressed?
- What assumptions am I making about someone else, or about the situation?
- What actually matters about this?
- Are my priorities in the right places? And do my actions reflect that?
- Am I focusing too much on something that doesn’t matter, such as what someone else thinks/believes/feels?
- What brought me to this place of feeling stuck/stressed?
- What IS working well?
- What is NOT working well?
- What would freedom look like in this situation, and what would it take to get there?
I’m wishing you all the freedom that truth brings, both for your spiritual life and your physical life, and hoping that this post prompted you to rethink an untruth in your own life and that the discovery has pointed you toward the truth. Truth brings freedom.
For more reading about something I had to change my thinking on, read this post. And for a resource I found helpful when I was digging up untruth in my life, read this book.