Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)

A few weeks after giving my life to Christ, I was in my room reading my Bible. I was on fire for Him and could not get enough of His Word. Then a thought popped into my head, “Are you really forgiven?” I should have just ignored it and kept reading. But I lingered on the thought -- wondering if I had really been forgiven by God. I tried to remind myself that I had been, but I started to question everything about God and whether He could have really forgiven me.

As I was reading in Genesis recently, God brought that season back to my mind. Sometimes we believe what the enemy has said over what God’s Word says. In Genesis 3:1, we find the serpent asking the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

The enemy planted a thought in her head. He wanted her to question God and what God had said. The enemy does that with believers far too often – planting doubts and lies in our minds, trying to cause separation between us and God — even though Scripture makes it clear that when we are saved nothing can separate us from that love. But the enemy would like to make us think that God cannot be trusted; and if we start to doubt God, then it’s hard for us to do what He has called us to do. If we’re not intentional in listening to God’s Truth, we’ll drift toward listening to the lies.

When I dwelt on wondering whether God really forgave me, it led to sleepless nights doubting and questioning God. The one way we can combat these lies is through Scripture. God used that difficult season to build an even more solid foundation on Him and my faith. Reading God’s Word was how I fought back at the lie that God had not forgiven me.

Friend, if you are listening to lies from the enemy, fight them with God’s Truth this week. And use Paul’s words as reminder of what you should be thinking about: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (Philippians 4:8).

By Lauren Hill