To Live You Must Die

To live you must die means more than dying to our selfishness.  There are the things that we recognize, and there are the things we do not recognize.  I was raised to think that I was stupid.  I have spent years trying to study enough to convince myself that maybe I am not stupid.  The only one that needed convincing was me.  In the last few years, I have come to see that I am not stupid.  A very strange thing happened with this realization…nothing.  My belief system was that when I know enough, something amazing would happen.  Well, nothing amazing out there happened with this realization.  I have just come to realize that it is a huge disappointment.  Now, this all sounds a bit crazy, but it is a good example of how the lies that we believe put us in a works orientation trying to prove that the lie is not so. 

To live you must die.  This lie was one of those unrecognized places that had me working really hard to prove that I was not stupid.  It is true that I like to study and learn.  But, how much more pleasant to study and learn from a place of joy rather than from the place of fear…proving that you are not stupid. So, when I could accept that I was not stupid, I was waiting for the parade, the band, the promotion.  When you are trying to resolve a lie that came from someone out there, then you also want someone out there to be a part of the party.  The original someone who started this “you are stupid” lie is dead.  How many times are we trying to prove ourselves to someone who is dead?  Now, that is stupid, and we do not know it!!

When we believe these lies something very interesting happens in our relationships with others.  We project.  That means that the lie from a long time ago is constantly being projected upon others…we think they must think the same of us.  They do not, but we cannot find it within ourselves to really see it any other way.  No one else thought I was stupid.  No matter how many affirmations I received, they could not get by the lie’s fear that those affirmations just had to be wrong. 

You see, when the Lord says that we must die to live, it is a very positive thing.  It means cleaning out all these lies.  Then we can be a new creation living in the fullness of God’s original intent for us.  We are the temple that the Lord has stepped into.  We have become a den of thieves…that is not something we chose.  Someone else chose this for us.  The lie(s) has/have the energy to continue drawing in experiences that seem to affirm the lie.  I am hoping that we are each dying daily to the lies so that we may live from His perspective instead of the worlds.

I think that the parade, the celebration must be in heavenly realms as they see God’s children slowly learn the truth about who they are in Christ.  The power of the lie is broken.  There followed a place of disappointment and resignation as the truth encounter came to me.  I was the only one who believed the lie.  I am the one who needs to throw me a party!  I was telling my son this experience today, and he said to me, “Mom, look in the mirror and tell yourself that you are very smart.  I think that you are the smartest person I know.”  Isn’t it great to have your kids be a part of your fan club?  Are there lies that you are trying to overcome?  Listen to your heart and mind conversation.  Do you argue in your mind or heart when someone says something positive about you?  That is a signal that it is time to die to self in that area of life so that you may live in wholeness.