Lord, please help me to change - Judith Couchman

LORD, PLEASE HELP ME TO CHANGEike many of us, Aimee fell into a pit before recognizing he rneed t o change. Landin g wit h nothing t o soften the blow ,she face d th e enormit y o f her self-lies . On th e surface , they ha dlooked harmless , inconsequential . Bu t peering a t them face-to -face below, she couldn't deny their repugnance ."Denial run s deep. W e tel l ourselves lies, " wrote Melod yBeattie, who practiced denia l fo r years. "Whe n som e awareness ,some reality , threatens t o hurt us , we trick ourselve s into believ -ing 'i t ain't so.' . . . People den y just about anythin g tha t ca n b edenied—but wha t w e usuall y den y i s what w e hav e lost , are losing ,or suspect we're losing—something importan t t o us." 5Aimee denie d th e trut h fo r fear she'd los e th e persona limage sh e longe d t o project. Sh e wante d t o be a woman wh o"had i t all," including th e admiratio n o f others and respec t fo rherself. Ironically , thos e self-lie s garnered th e opposit e o f he rdreams.As the father of lies, that's exactly what Satan wants: to mak ethe trut h soun d a s lies—and lie s to ring a s the truth . He'l l mir eus in hi s pit a s long a s we allow it , but there' s reall y no nee d t owallow there. W e can reac h up , grasp th e Shepherd's hand , an dtogether begi n th e journey towar d change .He only requires that we tell the truth .1. Wha t lie s do you tel l yourself? Why?2. I f you face the truth, what are you afraid of losing ?John write s about th e nature o f truth :Here is the message we have heard from Christ and now announce to you:God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. So if we say we havefellowship with God, but we continue living in darkness, we are liars anddo not follow the truth. But if we live in the light, as God is in the light,6