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Welcome to the Women's Hall: Free at Last?

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1, NIV)

Living La Vida Loca

Sometimes I think that if people could hear my thoughts, they would discover that I am crazy. And that would be bad.

On the outside, I am often able to present myself as a confident woman who knows what she's doing. But then there are those crazy thoughts running through my mind: quick and agile, false and powerful.

I can count on these thoughts to show up in situations that intimidate me. My most frequent standby usually comes along when I'm in groups with boys and pretty girls. You're ugly, my crazy thoughts say. No one wants to look at you, much less hear what you have to say. At work, my thoughts tell me I'm not smart enough; when I'm reading the Bible, they tell me to cringe when I come acress the word submission. When I've eaten chocolate chip cookies, they try to convince me to slip away to the bathroom to get rid of them.

These are the thoughts that follow me around from day to day as they whisper convincing lies to me. These are the crazy thoughts that invade my head. And I know they invade yours, too.

Daddy Devil

If we're going to be honest, we need to accept that we enjoy lies. We believe lies about ourselves, and we often lie to ourselves. We get trapped in deception, and pretty soon the truth is faint and distant. And at the base of each of these issues — each of the falsehoods we allow to keep us chained — is a faulty worldview.

When we starve ourselves in order to lose weight, we do not believe that God has created us in his image, just the way He wants us to be. When we worry excessively about relationships, we are not trusting that God will supply all of our needs. When the thought of healthy submission to a husband makes our skin crawl, it's because we're not believing that the Lord has set up a perfect example of how to live as husband and wife — a beautiful picture of Christ and His relationship with the church.

The untruths that we women battle so fiercely are a result of the Fall; a side effect of our sinful human nature. The Bible says Satan is the father of lies and that our sinful hearts want to do his bidding.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44, NIV).

The cause of so much of the sin we allow in our lives is a result of our eagerness to accept lies.

Be Yourself — But Not Really

The TV we watch, the classes we take, the friends we have — they tell us to follow our hearts. They tell us to be ourselves, to keep it real. But listen a little more closely. Who is telling you this stuff? Who's on MTV telling you to just be yourself? It's always someone deathly skinny. So be yourself, as long as it doesn't involve sweets or carbs. Always be true to who you are — but you really aren't good enough, so help yourself out with lots of makeup, breast implants and tanning beds.

C O F F E E  S H O P

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Do the women you see in the media — super skinny and covered in makeup — affect the way you see yourself?

Join the discussion!

Our society tells us to live freely, but doesn't accept people who don't fit the mold. Popular culture overflows with conflicting lies; it's stuffed full of untruths.

Free At Last!

Our society feeds us false worldviews. Oftentimes, we women readily accept them. We become prisoners to deception, and pretty soon, the freedom that truth offers seems very far away.

Jesus said He came to testify to the truth; He said the truth would set us free. Yet most days, I politely tell Him, "no thanks," and snuggle up in the chains of deception.

Girls, I'm going to ask you to make a conscious decision to not let yourselves be burdened again by this yoke of slavery. If we decide to adopt a biblical worldview, we must believe that if the Son sets us free, we will be free indeed.

I want the TrueU Women's Hall to be a place for us to be completely honest about the things we struggle with, about the hard questions we have about God, life and living as women who genuinely believe and practice the truth. Together, as a community, we can encourage one another as we grapple with a God whom we may not always understand, but who is always trustworthy.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. His truth will release us from the shackles of deceit that we have tolerated for so long. Let's stand firm in that freedom, as we choose to believe God's truth, grace and peace.