The Three R's

Last night at our Bible study group we talked about the three R's.  It wasn't "reduce, reuse, and recycle" or even "Reading, wRiting, 'Rithmetic."  The three R's we talked about were "recognize, replace, repeat."  

The "recognize" comes from 2 Corinthians 11:3--"But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."  Satan is the father of lies, and he would love to lead us astray, sow seeds of doubt, discontent, and discouragement in our lives.  We need to recognize those lies.  Things like: I'm a failure; I'll never be good enough; I'm afraid; I can't. 

Once we recognize the lies, then we need to "replace" them with scripture, the truth of God.  When we feel like we can't do something, we can quote Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."  Or if we are struggling with feeling like we just can't please people, but we know we're trying the best we can, Galatians 1:10 has a good word for us: "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?  If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."  Here's another for those of us who sometimes feel like a failure, 2 Corinthians 12:9: "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."  There are innumerable scriptures that can be found, and honestly a simple Google search is sometimes all it takes.  You can do a search for "Bible verses for people who feel ________" and you're likely to find a multitude of websites with some verses that will be helpful.  Try it!!

The final R is "repeat."  This one is really self-explanatory.  You simply have to repeat the scripture you have chosen to replace the lie with until your mind shifts and begins believing the truth instead of the lie.

The other sets of "The Three R's" are important, but this one might be the most important of all. :)