What Are We Believing?

April 2025.

I’ve been mulling over lately how we get stuck in old patterns of thinking and behaving. Patterns that are self-defeating and not serving us or anyone else, for that matter. Isn’t it the human condition, as the apostle Paul says in the Bible, to do the very thing we hate? And not do the thing we WANT to do??

Hurts and trauma from our past can lead us to form some faulty conclusions and wrong assumptions; conceivably, to protect us from ever experiencing those things again. For example: if I were painfully betrayed by a friend, I might form a conclusion that it’s not safe to open up with anyone. Or if I were abused or neglected as a child, I might take on the subconscious idea that my needs are not important, so it’s better to not show neediness. Some degree of ‘live and learn’ is necessary in life. But are the conclusions we’ve come to actually true? Are we making sweeping generalizations, based on past events, that now shape our current reactions and decisions? Do we ever challenge the stories we tell ourselves? And check the lense that we’re seeing through? Is there another way to see it? Are untrue assumptions keeping us stuck, repeating old patterns?

Proverbs 3:5 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.”

Jesus told us in John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.”

What if we ask the Holy Spirit to show us our faulty assumptions? Let’s grab hold of this Bible promise: “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31.