TRUTH
STEP ONE
WORKBOOK PAGES
All modules are included here!
STEP ONE: TRUTH
Workbook Pages
Truth 1.0: It's the Real Thing
1. Truth is not subject to human judgement, but it’s about _______________ perspective.
2. “We may have to admit we have been wrong at times in the way we’ve viewed the world.”
Is it possible you have done this? Circle below if you have made faulty assumptions about:
a. people
b. relationships
c. life in general
d. God
e. all of the the above
Describe a time when you may have drawn negative conclusions about God because of events or circumstances in your life.
3. “Many people lie to themselves about their experiences in life and in their relationships in order to survive.”
Why do people lie to themselves?
Have you lied to yourself about your experiences or relationships? If so, tell about it.
Did it help you survive?—If so, how?
4. Debbie says, “You cannot create your own Truth.” In your own words, what does this mean?
5. Define COURAGE.
Has there been a time in your life when you were COURAGEOUS—when you did what you needed to do, even when afraid? What about when you were not courageous?
I was courageous when I __________________________________________.
I was not courageous when I _______________________________________.
6. The word DYSFUNCTIONAL means to function in an inhibited manner, in a ____________ kind of way.
Name one way your life been DYSFUNCTIONAL.
7. Describe your two bodies of evidence.
My FAITH—What I believe, my expectations, how things SHOULD be:
My EXPERIENCE—What actually happened/is happening:
8. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”—Maya Angelo
What is the difference between allowing someone to SHOW you who they are vs TELLING you who they are?
Describe one time in your life when you have allowed people to TELL you who they are:
Looking at your answers above, can you admit that you LIED TO YOURSELF in certain relationships? Why did you want to believe that someone was who you wanted them to be?
What might happen when you start believing that people are who they SHOW YOU they are?
WORST THING THAT MIGHT HAPPEN: _________________
BEST THING THAT MIGHT HAPPEN: _________________
Other: _________________
9. “I had borne the responsibility of the behavior of others, thinking I was acting in love. But I had it all backward. We can never be responsible for the behavior of others, only for ourselves.”
When have you taken responsibility for others? Explain.
Have you ever blamed someone else for your own failures? If so, when?
10. “The failure of my life was no longer about the controllers; it was about me. I, and I alone, was responsible for my mess.”
Why must change begin with YOU?
What would happen if you change your circumstances but did not change YOU first?
What might happen if you make changes in YOU before changing your circumstances?
11. Many times your circumstances will offer hardcore evidence that is contrary to your faith, but it is important that you do not deny either your faith or your experience. TRUE or FALSE
12. “How could I face the fact that I could never recapture those lost years? What was I to do with my life? What now?”
What INVESTMENTS (time, energy, caring, emotions, relationships, etc) have you made in your past that did not produce a harvest (did not work)? List them below:
Explain how you can LET GO OF THAT PART OF YOUR PAST so you can move on.
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BONUS QUESTION: Look again at your answer to #12, about wasted investments. Can you see a WAY OF THINKING you were using during that time, that may have actually been broken thought processes at work?
Truth 2.0: Truth and Lies
1. The nature of God is at the core of all Truth. TRUE/FALSE
2. What is SPIRITUAL LAW?
When is Spiritual Law applicable?
When does Spiritual Law change?
3. Complete this list of Spiritual Laws #1-8:
Spiritual Law #1: God’s Word is ________________. He will not go back on His Word.
Spiritual Law #2: The Kingdom of God is ____________________.
Spiritual Law #3: Every person is created as a free moral agent with the power of _____.
Spiritual Law #4: God is ________________.
Spiritual Law #5: God is ________________.
Spiritual Law #6: God is ________________.
Spiritual Law #7: God is ________________.
Spiritual Law #8: God is ________________.
4. The nature of God is about who God is—It has nothing to do with who we are, and it has nothing to do with our behavior. TRUE/FALSE
Write out 2 Timothy 2:13:
When have you been “faithless?” What did the Lord do? Did it change God any at all? Explain.
5. When is the devil a liar? _________ ______ ___________.
6. In the Bible, Satan is described as a:
a. deceiver
b. thief
c. liar
d. murderer
e. accuser
f. all the above
7. “The enemy has one single weapon he consistently and relentlessly and mercilessly uses against mankind. Satan’s number one, all-time most used weapon against humanity is deception.”
What is deception, and why is it so dangerous?
8. A lie is not always obvious. It may not look like a lie. It certainly isn’t going to come packaged with the word “deception” stamped on it. TRUE or FALSE
9. See the list of statements below. Circle the ones you have said (if only to yourself), and add additional ones that are not on the list.
a. God is punishing me. He’s making me pay.
b. God is mad at me.
c. God thinks I’m a terrible person.
d. God wants me to suffer.
e. God doesn’t love me as much as He loves other people.
f. I have disappointed God.
g. God has something against me.
h. ___________________________________________________
In the list above, concerning the statements you have believed, can you now explain why those statements are not true? Are they what God would say? Do they agree with Spiritual Law?
10. When you are trying to discern between a truth and a lie, one simple test is to ask yourself, _________________________________________________________?
11. When seeking to recognize God’s voice, there are three things we should do:
1. __________________________________
2. __________________________________
3. __________________________________
12. “The enemy will attempt to get people to confuse his own voice with the voice of God. Quite often he’ll even provide some bits and pieces of scripture to back it up!”
Which of the statements below fit this description?
a. I must not be a good Christian because I failed at something really important. The Bible says we can do all things through Christ.
b. The Word says born-again believers are “new creatures” in Christ. So if I was really saved, I wouldn’t struggle with the same old sins over and over again.
c. I have repented of my sin, but I think God is punishing me for it anyway, because I had to pay a fine. That makes sense because the Bible says God disciplines those He loves.
d. I struggle with sin, just like everyone else. But the Bible says there is no condemnation in Christ, and it also says the mercies of God a new every morning. God will give me another chance!
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BONUS QUESTION: Think about one time when you were deceived. Tell about it. What happened?
Truth 3.0: Truth Vs Fact
1. What are FACTS? What is TRUTH? And what is the difference between the two?
FACTS:
TRUTH:
THE DIFFERENCE:
2. List 25 Facts about yourself.
Looking at your list of facts, circle those that qualify as TRUTH.
Of those circled, why are these statements TRUTH—and not just facts?
3. The Truth is always superior to the facts. TRUE or FALSE
4. “Your purpose and assignment, all your awesome gifts and talents, and your personality speak louder than any collection of facts. That is the Truth about you.”
Describe your own PERSONAL TRUTH as much as you can.
How are you are “equipped” to complete your assignment, or purpose? (See Hebrews 13:20-21)
5. “Every statement of fact has a corresponding statement of Truth.”
Refer to your list of facts (Question #2). Underline three that you consider the most formidable (or troublesome).
How were those facts created? (By you, by others, by consequence, etc. Did you have help?)
What is the Truth about those three facts, and how is the Truth SUPERIOR?
6. Which of the follow statements are true:
a. The facts are easy, but the Truth must be found.
b. Facts are created from decision and consequence, while Truth is born of purpose and design.
c. Facts can change, but Truth never changes.
d. Facts often appear to make sense, but the Truth may seem illogical.
e. All the above.
7. “When believers are fact-led, they are not Spirit-led and can be easily misled.”
Look again at your three most formidable facts.
How have these facts tried to take control or direct your life?
How have they tried to identify you?
Have these facts created more facts?
8. We can manage our facts by:
a. Acknowledging them, accepting them, and ignoring them
b. Trying to make sense of them
c. Blaming our facts on someone else
d. Hoping they’ll go away if we ignore them long enough
9. “Try to acknowledge your facts without getting your emotions involved.”
Why is this important? Do you think you can do it?
10. Look again at your three most formidable facts.
Are they changeable or unchangeable?
What limitations have they tried to impose on your life and identity?
Can you accept your unchangeable facts without accepting those limitations? How?
11. “Many of our facts involve other people and the acts they perpetrated against us.”
Have you always been fair to yourself? Explain.
Can you JUDGE THE ACTIONS of those who harmed you WITHOUT CONDEMNING THEM? How?
12. How can you choose Truth over your facts?
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BONUS QUESTION: Debbie says acknowledging the facts will destroy you if you don’t let God in it with you. Why do you think this is true, and how can you make sure you get it right?
Truth 4.0: Seeing As God Sees
Develop your spiritual eyesight.
TRUTH 4.2 SUMMARY: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
- God responds differently to some questions than He does others.
2. Viewing this matter from God’s perspective, it appears there are two kinds of questions:
1) Questions about the PAST (failure and loss)
*frustration
* doubt
* unbelief
2) Questions about the FUTURE (the calling on one’s life)
* hope
* faith
* destiny
3. It seems that God is willing to discuss only the second type of question: about the FUTURE.
Questions that ask why are not faith questions; they’re rooted in doubt.
4. God does not respond to doubt because there is no doubt in Him.
* This is why it may seem that God isn’t listening.
* It’s as though He doesn’t see it or hear it.
* The heart of God is not touched by doubt because there is nothing in Him from which doubt can bring a response.
5. SPIRITUAL LAW #10: Our God is a faith God. Faith pleases Him.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. — Hebrews 11:6
6. Faith is about hope and change.
You don’t need faith for your past, because it’s already happened; you only need faith for your future.
7. In the Kingdom of God, there is a divine protocol concerning how we approach the Lord.
* The correct divine protocol is faith.
* We can cry out to the Lord at any time.
* Understanding that God is a faith God can change the way we approach the Lord.
9. WHAT TO DO:
1) Stay real. Be genuine & authentic.
* This does not mean that we should say only what we think the Lord wants to hear.
* Polite pleasantries do not represent the passion of a real relationship.
* Faith is not a feel-good, say-the-right-thing, shallow statement to make the Lord happy.
* The Lord wants real relationship. Stay genuine with the Lord.
2) Change the conversation.
* Abandon the questions about the past.
* Moaning and groaning over the past will consistently fail to get God’s attention.* Focus on what God is doing now.
* Begin to ask the Lord about how to engage His will for your life.
3) Begin walking out of THE PAST.
* If it takes courage to face our facts, it takes faith to let go of our questions.
* We begin letting go of the past when we let go of the questions.
10. God is not interested in your past; He’s interested in your future!
Truth 5.0: The Naked Truth
1. “It is entirely possible to consider yourself an honest person, yet be blinded by self-deception.”
How does JUDING OURSELVES benefit us in our quest for emotional freedom?
Write out 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 below:
2. When you judge yourself, you must:
a) Look at not just what you did or thought, but why.
b) View yourself objectively—not defensively
c) Judge yourself according to the standard of the Word, what God says is right and acceptable— not according to worldly standards.
d) Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you.
e) Know that this is not a one-time event.
f) All the above
3. We can begin to judge our hearts by first examining our MOTIVE, INTENT, AND DESIRE.
MOTIVE: The reason we do what we do. Provides the initiative.
INTENT: What we mean to accomplish. Provides the purpose.
DESIRE: The things you want. Provides the direction.
Which of these is the most important? ____________________
4. What are your DESIRES? Write down the things that are most important to you.
Have you lived your life according to your desires? Why, or why not?
What desires have led you into trouble? List them below.
Do you currently have any illicit desires? Circle them.
5. When we want to change the desires of your heart, we can:
a. Pray and ask for diving help
b. Manage our behavior (do what’s right)
c. Concentrate on the good (keep our mind out of the gutter)
d. All of the above
6. Write out Psalms 51:10; Psalms 37:4 below; Jeremiah 29:13; Galatians 5:16. What do each of these verses have in common?
7. Three ways to escape responsibility by avoiding the Truth are:
a. Excuses
b. Rationalization
c. Denial
e. All of the above
8. EXCUSES are inferior explanations used as a pretext or plea for overlooking a fault. They justify poor judgement, bad behavior, or lack of responsibility.
When have you made excuses for something you did/didn’t do?
When have you made excuses for the bad behavior of others? (Ex: when they treated you badly or coaxed you to do things you knew you shouldn’t.) List them in your journal.
Why did you make these excuses?
9. RATIONALIZATION is false reasoning. It pleads for an exception. Rationalization includes playing the blame game, deliberately misinterpreting situations to stack the facts in one’s favor, and compartmentalizing (creating a double life.)
When have you rationalized your decisions and behavior?
10. DENIAL is the refusal to accede to reality. Denial:
a. includes evasion, diversion, confusion, and feigning innocence.
b. offers the false promise of forgetting
c. prevents one from adapting to life situations and making needed corrections and adjustments.
d. is an escape for those who don’t want to face the facts and take responsibility.
e. is for cowards
f. is particularly dangerous because it is fundamentally self-deceptive.
g. all the above
11. Refer to your three most formidable facts.
What EXCUSES did you make for your decisions or actions—or for others?
How did you RATIONALIZE each situation?
How did you RATIONALIZE the behavior of others?
Were you in DENIAL? If so, tell what happened. How did that affect your perspective?
How were were you LYING to yourself?
12. Refer to your answers in #11, above. What would have happened if you had decided to GET REAL and called it what it was in the moment? Make a note by each one.
WORST THING THAT MIGHT HAPPEN:
BEST THING THAT MIGHT HAPPEN:
Other:
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BONUS QUESTION: Denial employs cowardice. Getting real (Truth) takes courage.
Explain the correlation with faith and fear.
Truth 6.0: Truth in Relationships
1. Write out 1 John 1:7 below:
What do you think it means to “walk in the light” in regard to relationship?
2. Legal bonds between people can create a false sense of security. TRUE or FALSE
3. Who do you know that treats friends better than family? What is wrong with that?
How could this affect one’s future in a detrimental way?
4. “You can love someone and not like them.”
Who do you love—but do not like? Why don’t you like them? Write it down.
Do the people in your life like you? Why do you need them to like you?
Is it a sin not to like someone?
5. Circle the statement that does not belong.
a) Brokenness attracts brokenness.
b) Birds of a feather flock together.
c) Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
d) God loves everybody.
6. Males and females are equally susceptible to emotional to injury in childhood. TRUE or FALSE
7. Men and women respond to emotional injury in different ways. Place a W by the statements below that describe women, and an M by the statements that describe men.
__ Are more willing to connect with their brokenness.
__ Often refuse to admit their brokenness, even to themselves.*
__ Tend to absorb the brunt of emotional pain, directing it inward.
__ Often doubt themselves and display a marked lack of self-confidence.
__ Tend to direct their anger and frustrations outward.
__ Commonly find themselves in abusive situations.
__ Are more apt to give their partner another chance—and then another. They may appear weak.
__ Can suffer greatly from self-contempt and will act out in order to find relief.
__ Are more likely to suffer from depression, to bear responsibility for others, and to absorb the blame for matters outside their control.
__ Are more apt to withdraw socially and develop chemical substance abuse.
8. “Children who don’t receive what they needed from one parent will sometimes attempt to fulfill that need in a romantic partner as adults. These are the grown men looking for a mother figure, and the women with daddy issues.”
Who do you know that fits this description? (Male and female)
Does this describe you? If so, tell what happened in childhood, how you responded as an adult, and what dysfunction followed. Where are you now?
9. “The gaping hole left in the heart of the emotionally injured is far too deep to be resolved by another human.”
Why are people not the answer?
10. Place a check by all the following statements that are true.
Manipulators:
__ play on another’s emotions.
__ rely on relationship.
__ prey on those who are not particularly sure of themselves.
__ use various tactics, such as threats, fear, promises, charm, sexual attraction, fits of rage, sympathy, pouting, tears, and anything else necessary to move the target.
__ usually appear to be the “good guy.”
__ are fueled by doubt but may appear over-confident.
__ are out to get what they want.
11. Describe NARCISSISM.
How is NARCISSISM related to MANIPULATION?
12. All the statements below are true except for one. Place an X by the incorrect statement.
a. Narcissists have an excessive need for attention.
b. All narcissists have a heart bondage.
c. Narcissists have a lack of empathy for others.
d. Narcissists are plagued by relationship troubles.
e. All manipulators are narcissists.
13. A manipulator will deliberately and consciously choose a person as an object through which to attain their purpose; this is their __________________.
Explain why we are not VICTIMS.
14. Describe CODEPENDENCY.
15. There are two partners in a codependent relationship: the taker and the care-taker. In the Freedom Class, we call these the ______________________ and the _________________.
16. “Often, the Enabler is raised in a family with a dysfunctional parent and learns to placate that parent to make life easier for them and their siblings. These caretakers tend to repeat the pattern in their own relationships as adults.”
Debbie explains how she fell into this pattern of dysfunction as a teenager. Did this happen to you? Explain.
17. Below are five signs of codependent behavior. Write a short definition beside each one, then answer the questions.
1) PEOPLE-PLEASING:
Have you ever been—or are you now—an ENABLER?
Have you supported dysfunctional behavior? Are you doing it now? Explain.
2) LACK OF BOUNDARIES:
What would healthy boundaries look like in your life?
When have you allowed a lack of boundaries to characterize your relationships?
Have you allowed another person to dominate you to your detriment?
Has someone else been the “taker,” while you failed to see your wants and needs met?
3) LOW SELF-ESTEEM:
Note: Those with deep emotional injuries from childhood are particularly susceptible to codependency.
4) CARE-TAKING:
Have you developed a martyr mentality?
Do you consider yourself the “good one” and they are the “bad one”?
5) REACTIVITY:
Have you been defensive, or blamed yourself for everything?
Have you taken on the responsibility for other’s behavior?
Have you lost touch with your own wants and needs?
18. “We must be careful not to misuse scripture or interpret scripture out of context to validate poor behavior.”
Have you done this? If so, tell about it. Explain why it didn’t work for you. Explain why we cannot apply scripture to justify dysfunction.
19. Below are the FIVE THINGS TO KNOW WHEN OBSERVING DYSFUNCTION IN OTHERS. Which of these stands out most to you?
Circle the ones that you have failed to employ in the past.
How can you be confident that you”ll adopt these new mental habits going forward? Make a note by the ones you circled; explain what you did wrong in the past, and how you can get it right in the future.
What struggles can you expect to encounter in your commitment to follow through with this? How will you handle it?
1) Bad habits and personality flaws are constant and not likely to disappear without counseling, inner healing, and/or deliverance. We might say that these personality traits are temporarily permanent.
2) When we judge the actions of another, we must view them through eyes of reality. In relationships, we are required to be real.
3) You are not the answer to someone else’s brokenness.
4) “All you need is love” is a recipe for personal disaster.
5) Dysfunction is about deep emotional injuries; it’s a matter of the heart. It’s not about situations and circumstances; it’s not because someone you’re in relationship with needs to be loved; and it’s certainly not because they just need someone to understand them.
20. Have you manipulated others? Have you formed mental habits that look like codependent behavior on the controlling end?
Explain why manipulation is the devils work.
Write out Ephesians 5:1-2 below:
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BONUS QUESTION: Do your relationships benefit you? Do they sustain and support your devotion to Christ, your commitment to excellence, and your aim to attain your highest purpose in life? Do you have some relationships that need to be severed?
Perhaps you have familial relationships (legal bonds) that are unsupportive or hostile to your life goals. How can continue in relationship with these people while maintaining healthy boundaries and personal peace?