You’ve probably heard the saying “if you tell a lie long enough it becomes the truth.” But do you have any idea who originally brought the phrase into popular culture? It might surprise you…Adolf Hitler. The line is from his book “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle) and is coined as “the big lie.” The actual quote is “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” You’d think Hitler was exposing some of his own propaganda secrets in the quote, but he wrote it in 1924, well before he ever became a force in Germany. In fact, the quote was aimed at Jewish leadership, accusing them of using this tactic against German generals in reasoning why they lost WWI. But regardless of its origination, there is great truth within it.
This principle is more widely used today than any other time in history. Because of the internet, social media, email, and other mediums that allow individuals immediate access to the entire world, we see lies that circulate as quickly as a sneeze exits the nose. (did you know a sneeze can reach 100mph?) And as these lies make their rounds to inboxes, phones, and laptops around the globe, they contaminate minds that are either ready to believe the lie or just will not check the math. Politics, news, military and even advertising all use the principle to their benefit. The effect has become so prevalent today that psychologists have even coined a term for it, the “illusory truth effect.” That sounds so much better than the “big lie.”
The principle says that if we are told a lie enough, we will begin to see it as truth in our lives. Those lies are created and distributed by groups or individuals that seek to alter, change, or manipulate our thinking or behavior. You could say they are externally generated. But I have a question for you. What if the lie being told did not generate externally but internally? What if you are speaking lies to yourself? Over and over. If the “illusory truth effect” is indeed true with external agents, then it must also be true with internal ones. What you tell yourself over and over will indeed become truth in your heart. I guess the real question is…how do you talk to your heart?
We come to an interesting yet dis-heartening chapter today. By now we are more than familiar with David’s story. The ups and downs of his life would make more than a great roller coaster. He is plucked from the shepherd’s field as a young teen and anointed by God as the future king of Israel. He brazenly fights a giant and kills him with one stone…one throw, one kill. He is chosen to go to the royal palace and be the personal musician to the acting king, soothing the king’s frayed nerves with the most skillful lyre playing in the land. But soon the fairy tale ends. God removes His Spirit from Saul and replaces it with an evil spirit. A day David could probably recite from memory. For it was that day David started running. Saul, feeling threatened by David’s anointing as king, believed that David was somehow gunning for his seat on the throne. He would kill David and secure his kingship forever. David runs for his life. From city to city, cave to cave, hiding place to hiding place. David’s enchanted life quickly turned to the life of a fugitive. And the fugitive days stretched on and on. Months turned to years and years to decades. I can only imagine this terribly trying time in David’s life. He questioned God, he questioned himself, he questioned the truth that he thought he knew. And because of this, David’s monologue with his heart changed. It took many years, but what he spoke to his heart was no longer the dialogue of pure truth, but that of the big lie.
You see, persistent fear chisels away at our faith. One small piece at a time plummets to the floor as the disappointments of life whittle away at our faith. If anyone knew this it was David. For over 10 years, the knife of the world had been whittling away at his faith. Until the point that he started speaking to his heart in a different way. He started telling his heart the problems of life were bigger than God. And as he told this lie over and over, it soon did indeed become truth in his heart. And his feet followed his heart.
Chapter 27 of 1 Samuel opens with a verse that sums up a life in turmoil. A life that is so desperately seeking solace that it will believe anything it is told.
“Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” 1 Samuel 27:1
David is tired of playing cat and mouse with Saul within the borders of Israel, so he decides to flee the country. And in doing so he runs right into the hands of the world. You see, the land of the Philistines was not part of the Promised Land that God intended His children to inhabit. David, seeking his own safety fled into a land that God did not approve. A land that promoted evil. A land full of idols, false gods, rampant sexual sin, witchcraft and even child sacrifice. David fled from the safety of the hand of the Lord that had always covered him and sought his own of safety.
The big lie. That we can somehow do our lives better than God. That we can find real joy on our own. That we can locate true freedom by ourselves. That we can secure what we truly need without God. All lies. You see, God knew exactly what David needed, yet David in his tireless running, had his faith whittled down to almost nothing. His faith became so thin and frail that the lies he spoke to himself in his heart, penetrated. The lies overthrew the truth of God and landed in the soft tissue of his heart. In his current discouragement, David forgot God’s past deliverance.
How are you speaking to your heart today? Are you telling it the pure truth of God’s Word or are you feeding it the lies of the world? The world tells us we always need more, God tells us He will give us all we need. The world tells us we need to seek our own safety, God says we are always safe within His arms and His will. The world tells us stuff will satisfy us; God tells us our satisfaction lies in His love. You see, the world and the evil one that controls it, seeks to fill our hearts and minds with lies. And he tells them to us over and over and over. But we are called to instead feed on the truth of God. And in doing so, in feeding our faith, we will truly find the abundant life that Christ came to offer us.
Friends, today, speak God’s truth into your heart. Don’t believe the lies but instead feed on the truth. What is being fed more today…your faith or your fear? What you feed today will grow to control your tomorrow. Feed your faith today by drawing near to God and His Word. For it is only there that you can find pure truth in this world.
If you are reading this, you are being prayed for.
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