An important thing to remember when facing the stronghold of doubt and self-doubt is to bind yourself to the Truth of the Word of God. Do you want truth? Look to Jesus. When the world is throwing lies at you, proclaim God's truth and His Word. When Satan is whispering lies in your ear to doubt your worth or ability, you need to combat it with the truth by binding yourself to God’s word. Doubting God causes you to begin to doubt yourself and others. Any anger or frustration you have because you have a stronghold should be completely directed towards Satan. You can be mad at him! He wants to destroy you.

“Those who oppose him [the Lord’s servant] he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25-26) “Those who oppose him” could also mean that you are opposing yourself. What is the devil’s will? He wants us all to turn from God. His plan is to get us to doubt God, others, and ourselves. Why not doubt your doubts? Remember the story of Adam and Eve? The serpent got Eve to doubt God, which in turn led her to sin.

We may see God as the problem. Doubting God becomes easy and common as we cave in to Satan's lies. We begin to think God views us as "trash" and unworthy. However, God isn’t viewing you as “damaged goods.” He sees hope in you. You view yourself as helpless, hopeless, useless, etc. But Jesus died for a reason. He died to set you free and to give you a hope. The popular verse Jeremiah 29:11 says, “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ” He wants to prosper you! He doesn’t want to see you hurting. God desires to use you; He has equipped you to do His will. You’re agreeing with the devil when you believe you’re helpless, hopeless and useless. This is negative self-talk. You are not only putting yourself down, but you are also insulting God when you proclaim such things over yourself. Choose to proclaim God's truth.

Satan keeps you from believing the truth about God, others, and yourself. He wants us to blame God, others, and yourself. As we begin to believe lies about Him and start doubting God, we start looking for other sources of help. When you cave into believing one lie, you allow him to keep lying to you and it turns into a web of lies. Give the devil foot, and he’ll take a mile. When he starts lying to you, proclaim God’s truth over yourself. Pray the Scriptures. Jesus did so when Satan tempted Him.

Satan tries to get you to refuse His love because you start believing you don’t deserve it. "Tabitha, you don't deserve His love. You're worthless, a sinner, and you do nothing but hurt Him." As you begin to believe this, you reject the love of others as well. You begin believing the lie that you have to earn acceptance and approval rather than accepting Jesus’ gift of salvation. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2) We are righteous and blameless because of Christ. We can walk in His truth and stop believing the lies of Satan. He died so we wouldn’t have to earn our way into salvation.

Is your pain too great for Jesus to heal? No! Jesus can heal you and He will if you allow Him to! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation the old has gone, the new has come!” How promising and amazing is this verse! When we come to Christ, we have the awesome opportunity to be new again!

What causes self-doubt? As more and more events seem to be going wrong, we start becoming more self-focused. We go into self-rejection. Then you may even go into self-hatred as you begin to hate yourself and speak negative things over yourself. (Notice all the “self”s. Selfishness is indeed involved.) We begin to feel like we have to compete with everyone (and ourselves). We start focusing more on our own needs rather than blessing others as Christ intends for us to do. When this begins to happen, allow Christ to live through you! Know that you are loved! Know that you are accepted! Allow Jesus to help you get out of this negative self-talk as you boldly proclaim God's truth.

We begin to compare ourselves to others. We stop living and walking by the Truth. Our significance begins to be based on other’s opinions and whether they will accept us or not. We look at what they’re doing and think we have to measure up. When this happens, remember to stand on God's truth! Focus on God and what He is saying about you: “Tabitha, you are loved; you are worthy. You are beautiful. You are accepted.” He thought you were worthy enough to die on the cross for you. That means you are pretty significant to Him. Rest in God's truth and plan for your lives. He has great things in store for you!

We don’t have to be perfect. No one is. Walk in humility as you follow His leading and calling. Don’t walk in guilt or shame. You have been forgiven. Don’t you think it’s insulting to God when you consider His sacrificial death on the cross “not enough” to cover your sins?

We cannot deliver or save ourselves. Come against doubt, whether it is doubting God or self-doubt. Be filled with God's truth and love as you bind yourselves to it. Don’t be discouraged. Be encouraged. Fear is actually just the cause of weak faith. When we feel fear, tell it where to go! Receive the mind of Christ and choose to walk in agreement with Him. No, you cannot do this in your own strength, but God will help you. You cannot save yourself, but Jesus has saved you. You may feel worthless and invaluable to the world, but to God (the One who truly matters) you are worthy, valuable, and a great asset to His kingdom.

Choose to walk in the Truth. Do you want to be healed? He wants to heal you. Do you want to do great things for Christ and His kingdom? He has a plan for you, far more than you can ever seek or imagine. Do you want to be a new creation? Do you want to be accepted and loved, unconditionally? Find love in Him. He has made you new through His death. We have a second chance. We are accepted and loved, unconditionally and not based on performance.

Praise God that He loves us so much He wanted us to be with Him! He saw that we were worth the pain and suffering. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) Who was His joy? We were (and still are) His joy. He saw us and chose to persevere. He considered us worth the pain. Line your thinking up with Christ’s and walk in agreement with the Truth.

Father God, I come before You today, humble and ready to accomplish Your will. I choose to bind myself to Your truth. I want to walk in agreement with You. I repent of any self-doubt or negative self-talk I have had. I repent of doubting You. Forgive me. I choose to forgive myself as well for the negative self-talk and doubts I have held. I proclaim Your truth and rebuke Satan and his lies. Thank You for loving me. Thank you for wanting me. You see me as worthy, useful to Your kingdom, righteous, and beautiful. Thank you. In your precious and holy name. Amen.