
Grace course | experiencing God’s grace | worksheet
Step1: Renouncing lies and choosing truth
As you have gone through The Grace Course, we have encouraged you to make a note in your Lies List of areas where you realize your thinking has been faulty. If you haven’t yet printed the lies list, do it now to have a private list you can use in several sessions of the course. In this first step, God may want to reveal to you some more faulty thinking. For your freedom it is important to renounce all the lies you have become aware of during the course and instead choose to declare and believe what is really true according to God’s Word.
Start by praying the following prayer:
Dear heavenly Father,
Your Word is truth and Jesus Himself is truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and it is knowing the truth that will set me free. I want to know the truth, believe the truth and live in accordance with the truth. Please reveal to my mind all the lies that have kept me in bondage. I want to renounce those lies and walk in the truth of Your grace and Your acceptance of me in Christ. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Affirmation of truth:
Now declare out loud these wonderful affirmations of truth! Then take some time to read them through slowly again and put a mark next to any that you know are a struggle for you to believe in your heart. You could add any that you have marked to your printed private Lies List so that you can work on them later (put them in the Truth column and then try to work out the lie).
I joyfully announce the truth that I am deeply loved by the Father:
- The Father loves me as much as He loves Jesus. Jesus said I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:23).
- The Father accepts me in Christ, just as I am. (Ephesians 1:6).
- The Father has lavished His grace upon me. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:7-8).
- The Father purchased me with the blood of His Son You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:20).
- The Father has poured out His love on me See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1).
- I am my Father’s workmanship, His “poem”. (Ephesians 2:10).
- I am the apple of my Father’s eye. For whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8).
I joyfully announce the truth that I am safe and secure in Christ:
- I am connected to Jesus like a branch to the vine I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).
- I am protected, held in Jesus and the Father’s hands (John 10:27-30).
- I am the righteousness of God in Christ, therefore in Him I do measure up! God made him who had no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)
- I am accepted in Christ to the glory of God (Romans 15:7).
- I died with Christ to the rule of sin and have been raised up to live a new life (Romans 6:3-4)
- I died to the law through the body of Christ Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God (Romans 7:4).
- I will never be deserted or forsaken by Christ Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5).
I joyfully announce the truth that the Holy Spirit lives in me and He is my strength:
- I am the Temple of the Holy Spirit who was given to me by my Father Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own (1 Corinthians 6:19).
- I am sealed by the Spirit who was given to me as a pledge of my full inheritance in Christ When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 1who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14).
- I am led by the Holy Spirit of adoption and am no longer a slave to fear; He enables me to cry out “Abba, Father!” 14For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. (Romans 8:14-16).
- I have been baptized by the Holy Spirit and placed into the body of Christ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (1 Corinthians 12:13)
- I have been given spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).
- I can walk by the Holy Spirit instead of giving in to the lusts of my flesh (Galatians 5:16-25).
The main lies you will work on are those that you have already uncovered. It may also help you to look through the table below where you have listed common lies together with possible reasons why people believe those lies (though there may be others), as well as some of the likely results in a person’s life. Sometimes it helps to uncover a lie by working backwards and looking at the “Result” column first to see if you recognize any of the symptoms of believing a particular lie. If you do recognize a lie as applying to you, put a mark beside it and add it to your Lies List.
LIE | POSSIBLE REASON |
RESULT |
---|---|---|
I can’t do anything right and my best is not good enough. | Continual criticism and put-downs. Coming from an overly strict family background. | Inability, indecision, critical or judgmental spirit, unhealthy competition. |
I must measure up to certain standards in order to be a valuable and worthwhile person. | Living under a system of performance-based acceptance. | Perfectionism, drivenness, anxiety, insecurity, control, manipulation of people and circumstances. |
I’m unlovable, worthless, unattractive and unwanted. | Receiving little or no affection or healthy physical touch. | Withdrawing from people, or using my body to get attention and affection. |
I am guilty, evil, dirty, defiled, not good enough for a relationship with God abd.or other people. | Physical, verbal, emotional, sexual abuse. | Feelings of guilt and shame, hiding and covering up or living according to the lie (sexual promiscuity, addictions, etc. |
I am unimportant, unwanted, abandoned, outcast, rejected. | Being ignored or rejected. Emotional neglect. | Trying hard to please, dropping out, behaving badly to gain attention, anger, rage, bitterness, depression. |
I am incompetent, weak, inadequate or untrustworthy, “I can’t do it”. | Past failures. Overprotection or smothering. | Perfectionism, fear, feelings of inadequacy. |
I am … . (the negative names they call me or I call myself) |
Cursing, name-calling or labeling. | Self-hatred, inferiority, attacking others. |
I am better than others. | Repeatedly hearing others (who are not like me), being put down and criticized. | Boasting, arrogance, putting others down, separatism, self-righteousness. |
Lies list
Now turn to your printed lies list. Spend some time filling in the “Truth” column if you haven’t already done so.
Below is a suggested prayer to renounce the lies that you have believed about yourself and the false identities that hinder your relationship with God and others. At the appropriate place in the prayer, include all the lies you have marked on your printed lies list.
Take as much time as you need and pray it from the heart. As you come to grips with how these lies have controlled your life, it may be very emotional for you. Don’t feel you have to maintain emotional control during this time. Allow the emotions and feelings to surface, expressing and releasing them to the Lord in prayer. The Lord is a refuge for you!
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for showing me the lies I have believed about myself and my life. I can see how damaging they have been to me and the negative effects they have had on my behavior.
I renounce the lies
I confess I have believed all these things that are contrary to Your truth and I specifically renounce all the ways the lies have caused me to live in guilt, shame, fear and pride.
I thank You for Your forgiveness and cleansing according to 1 John 1:9 which says that if we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I now choose to draw near to You my Father, not as a slave trying to earn Your acceptance, but trusting that I am already loved and accepted as Your precious child. In Jesus’ name. Amen.