Have you ever believed a lie?

You’re thinking to yourself OF COURSE NOT I’m the epitome of sense and sensibility.

Okay then. When you were little, did you really believe that Santa Claus existed? *glares at chimney* Were you convinced Pluto was a planet? Did you agree that the tooth fairy really existed?

I don’t recall this personally, but my mimi loves relating the story of when she asked me when I was much younger if I believed in Santa Claus. I puffed out my chest and sassily answered, “I don’t believe in Santa—I believe in Jesus!”

My sister Rachel, maybe four or five at the time, glanced at me and hesitated, torn between her loyalty to me and her love for the old man with the white beard that brought her gifts every Christmas. Finally, she said,

“Well I believe in Santa Claus!”

Now we know Santa Claus doesn’t exist (and maybe we even think he’s kinda creepy), that Pluto is not a planet (#PLUTOPOWER), and that it was your mom sticking dollar bills underneath your pillow when you lost a toofer.

But we all still believe lies. The root of sin is believing a lie. If your best friend is the most important thing in your life, you’ve told yourself she’s more important than the God who made you. If you constantly fight with your parents, you don’t believe the Bible verse that says that our parents are our authority.

Lies Young Women Believe is an amazing nonfiction book written by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh that tackles all these lies that cause us to sin. You might think you’re a pretty good person (I know I’m caught in that trap many times), but LYWB discusses so many different types of lies, I know you’ll end up finding at least one you believe. Perhaps you believe that you’re a Christian because . . . um . . . well, you go to church. And your parents are saved. And you raised your hand in Sunday School the other day to answer a really theological question. Perhaps you believe that girls who are pretty are worth more, or that you’re all alone in your decision to save your first kiss for your wedding day.

This ends now!

LYWB is amazing because it says all those cliché things like:

• You are saved “by grace”
• You are “perfect the way you are”
• “You aren’t alone”
• It’ll be “worth it”

These truths, while Biblically accurate, have – okay, let’s admit it – GOTTEN OLD. I’ve been told one too many times that I’m perfect the way I am, that God made me beautiful, that He makes no mistakes, that I’m not alone, and that it’s all worth it.

But what’s different about this book is that it admits these truths are old. And then it refurbishes them with new truths and applicable verses!

This book doesn’t confront every issue facing teen girls today. That would be impossible! But it does give special attention to 25 of THE MOST BELIEVED LIES of teen girls in the 21^st century. Because, the truth is . . .

YOU AREN’T ALONE.

You’re not the only one who looks in the mirror and doesn’t like what she sees. You’re not the only one who has less friends than she wishes. You’re not the only girl who stands up for what’s right and gets verbally beaten up.

We’re all in this together.

So, purchase this book at your local bookstore and take some time to read it. Get one of those notebooks you have lying around your room and take notes and answer the end-of-chapter questions LYWB provides.

Have you ever read this book before? What lies do you believe?