God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. (Ps. 46:5)

I attended WriterCon, an annual writing conference, over Labor Day weekend. The speakers and sessions this year provided a wealth of information. Several stuck out to me—too many to list here, really. But the one on my mind today is the last session I attended on Sunday. Laurel Thomas taught about how writers can find their story’s theme by examining the lie their main character believes.

This doesn’t just apply to writing fictional characters. We are the characters in our own story, and we all believe lies Satan has told us. Some common lies we believe are that we are not good enough, we are not worthy, no one loves us, we have to be perfect, and we did too much bad stuff in our pasts for God to use us.

Lies often begin as a small seed that is later solidified by a traumatic event. As a child, I felt loved by my family, but I was rejected by several friends in high school for not being a party girl. I’m not saying this to gain your pity to show this as an example of how a seed of rejection—of not being worthy because I was different—was planted.

And when I got divorced over a decade later, suddenly the lie that I wasn’t worthy of love became the dominant thought cycling on repeat in my head.

At the time, I didn’t know it was a lie—I believed I wasn’t worthy of love because the person who had pledged to stick by me had chosen to leave.

Now, I recognize the lie for what it is, and I know I am worthy of being loved. How do I know? How did I get past this? And how can you also combat these lies? With God’s Word.

Here are some of the things God says about me (all paraphrased by me):

• I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Ps. 119:34)
• I am a masterpiece. (Eph. 2:10 ESV)
• I am precious and honored in God’s sight. (Is. 43:4)
• God loves me and gave his only Son for me. (Jn. 3:16)
• God will fight for me. (Ex. 14:14)
• I am worth more than the sparrows. (Lk. 12:6–7)
• God is always with me and will never leave me. (Deut. 31:8)

What lie has Satan been telling you about yourself? What Bible verses can you use to remind yourself of God’s truth?

At first, you may not believe that what God says about you is true. But it is. His Word is truth, and if he said it, then it’s so. Make a list of the verses you can use to counter the lies. Write them on index cards, and place them where you’ll see them—on the bathroom mirror, in your car, on your refrigerator. Read them. Memorize them. Remind yourself of them. The more you hear the truth about yourself, the more you’ll start to believe it.

Dear Jesus, help us counter the lies Satan uses against us. Remind us of your great love for us. Show us in your Word the things you believe about us. And help us to believe them too. Amen.