You will become like God.

This is the lie I see that keeps popping up over and over again in the lives of believers.  The belief in this lie manifests itself differently for different people, but when you look deeper at the root of many sins this deception is sitting there on a throne in a stronghold in a believer’s life.

It is easy to trace this lie’s beginning back to the garden of Eden when the snake tempted Adam and Eve.

“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:5

Notice that the appeal to be like God is being able to determine for one’s self the difference between good and evil.  Self determination. Self reliance. Self focus. It throws me back to when Ethan was a small tyke struggling with the task on putting on his shoes and rejecting help by exclaiming loudly, “I do it myself!”

Mankind is trying to live independently of God and exclaiming we can figure this life out on our own. Yet anything other than God declaring what is true is utter failure. Our human perspective is so minuscule that it is laughable that we run around thinking that by human reasoning and understanding we can determine what is true.

We sometimes even let our emotions tell us what is true!  Emotions are God-given but they certainly don’t dictate truth.  They can distort reality, trip us up, and bind us from living in truth.

Believers also stumble into this self reliance of determining what is good.  Our assumption that we know better, that we know what God wants can quickly turn the abundant life into the checklist life of good things to do to please God.

Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil.
Ecclesiastes 5:1

The best lies are the ones closest to the truth.  A “Christian” focus on avoiding evil things and doing good things is actually obscuring the truth of what God wants from us.  LISTEN.

We need to stop acting like God and relinquish our self determination. We need to let go of our assumptions and ask God to reveal to us what is good and what is evil.  We need to depend upon Jesus.  He defines truth.  He is THE truth.

Are you ready to give up acting like God in determining what is good and evil?  Are you willing to release how you think, feel, and perceive truth over to Jesus?  Let’s take the time to listen to Him and get to know what He thinks.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32