A Snake Told the First Lie

Claire Black: This is True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us, one drive at a time. 

Buckle up!You’re about to grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus.

Today our destination is the True Girl Truth Lab. 

Sometimes when problems need to be solved, smart people spend time sorting through information in a laboratory, or lab. They’re trying to find out what is true about something: the way two liquids interact in a chemistry experiment, the secret to flying to the moon in a spaceship, or the way an animal responds to training. 

Laboratories help us discover and protect facts—for us and for people who live in the future.

Well, there’s something even more important than facts. It’s the truth! We need to discover and protect truth. Why? Because there are so many lies out there and at True Girl, we believe they’re at the root of all our girl-world problems, like: 

• bad emotions that won’t go away
• insecurity about our bodies
• and mean girl moments.

These things are proof that we’ve believed lies. We’ve got lots of problems to solve, so let’s get into the True Girl Truth Lab.

This season of True Girl is based on the best-selling book for tween girls, Lies Girls Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free. In it, Dannah Gresh and her team uncovered and organized some of the most important truths for girls like you. Let’s join Dannah Gresh with her lab assistant, Staci Rudolph for Season 8, Episode 1. It’s called, “A Snake Told the First Lie.”

Staci Rudolph: There you are! Dannah, what are you doing in the Truth Lab?

Dannah Gresh: Hey, Staci! I just got another sad letter from a True Girl. Look at this.

“Can you help me? I feel so embarrassed about the way I look. My arms are hairy compared to other girls, and sometimes kids at school even tell me I should shave them!” ~Sadie

It’s a letter from Sadie, and she sent a picture. See?

Staci: Yeah, her arms don’t look bad at all!

Dannah: Exactly, but she’s started to think about it all the time, every day.

Staci: Oh boy, sticky feelings alert!

Dannah: Exactly!

Staci: True Girl, welcome to the True Girl Truth Lab. And right off the bat, let me tell you that nothing good ever comes from thinking about bad things all the time, every day. That’s how lies take root in our hearts and minds. And then, we start to have sticky feelings. Dannah, tell ’em how sticky feelings work while I heat up this pot of water for some tea. 

Dannah: You and your tea!

Staci: If we’ve got hard work to do, I need my tea! I’ll make a tea lover of you yet, Dannah Gresh!

Dannah: Well, that tea pot is going to come in handy as I explain sticky feelings.

You see, True Girl, when you accidentally touch a hot pot—just like that one—and it burns you, your skin tells you, “Don’t do that!” 

I’m wearing a cozy flannel shirt today. When you touch a cozy shirt like this, your skin says, “Yes, do that!” It helps you know what is safe and unsafe for your body. 

Your feelings, or emotions, are kind of like the skin of your heart. (The inside part of you that has feelings, not the organ that pumps blood.)

In a similar way, your feelings can protect your heart. When it is under God’s control and you use God’s truth to direct and respond to your feelings, they are good tools from God.

For example, when you start to hang out with a friend who lies a lot, your feelings tell you, “This feels kind of bad. Back away from this person.” 

Staci: Oh, yeah. Back away from that for sure!

Dannah: When you find a friend who is faithful, your feelings say, “Yes, ah this feels good! Hang out with her more!” Your feelings help you to know what is safe and what is unsafe for your heart.

Now, one important sign that your feelings are working the way they should, is that they come and go. They do their job, and then they wait until you need them again. They aren’t “sticky.” You don’t feel them all the time,every day.

Staci: Like Sadie, feeling ugly because she focused on what those other kids said to her about her arms.

Dannah: Right. You see, God created both good and bad feelings, and they can both be useful if you use God’s truth to respond to them. But when you have a bad feeling and you don’t know why, or it just never goes away and you feel it all the time, every day, that’s a “sticky” feeling.It may be evidence that you have believed a lie! 

Today, we want to do two things in our learning lab:

1. Learn about where lies come from.
2. Put a sticky feeling through the Truth Lab lie detection machine over there.

Staci: Which sticky feeling are you gonna pop in that thing?

Dannah: Sadie’s, of course. Her sense that she’s ugly—that’s something a lot of girls struggle with. So, if we put this letter through that machine,we’ll find out what lie she might be believing. And more importantly . . . the truth she needs to set her free.

Staci: Okay, but first, Dannah, I know where lies come from. May I?

Dannah: Of course!

Staci: A snake told the first lie. Let me prove it to you.

I’m gonna just pour us some truth straight from the Word of God, Dannah. This is Genesis 3:1–7.

Now the serpent [that’s another word for “snake”] was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any trees in the garden?”

“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, “You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.”

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

The first lie wasn’t told by just any old snake. This serpent was Satan, or the devil, in disguise. 

Dannah: That’s right. And the Bible tells us that he is the “father of lies.” Listen to John 8:44.

 “The devil . . . was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

He told this first lie to the first woman who ever lived, Eve. But Satan wasn’t the only one participating in the lie. Eve listened to the lie.

Staci: The first lie was a half-truth. God had told Adam there was just one tree in the Garden they could not eat from, but all the rest were a feast for them. Yet, Satan tried to make Eve feel like God said they couldn’t eat any of the fruit!

Dannah: Eve should have stopped talking to that lying snake right away! But she didn’t. Instead,Eve began to dwell on the lie. Dwelling is kind of like when we have “sticky” feelings, and we think about something all the time, every day.

Staci: Eve’s dwelling on the snake’s lie turned to explaining. She tried to say, “It’s only the tree in the middle we can’t eat from!” She knew what the snake said wasn’t quite true. But she tried to explain things, and got herself into big trouble! That’s when the snake went for the big lie: “You won’t die!”

Dannah: Yeah, that’s when Eve’s emotions—those sticky feelings– began to take control.

Now, we don’t know exactly how she felt, maybe she felt confused.

Like, “Wait!? Did Adam misunderstand what God told him?”

Or maybe she felt rebellious.

“If that’s how God is going to be, I don’t want to follow God’s rules!”

Or maybe she felt afraid.

“Oh no! What if God isn’t as good as we think He is?”

No matter what, her feelings were now the boss of her heart! And she started to question God’s truth. 

Before you know it, Eve took fruit from the tree that God told her not to. She sinned. And that made her feel even worse.

Staci: Did you know that Satan is still trying to lie to you today? He does not disguise himself as a snake anymore, but he still gets dressed up so we can’t recognize him. Here are some of the different costumes he wears:

Commercials and ads that tell us we’ll be more beautiful if we just buy this pair of jeans or that brand of lip gloss.

Dannah: Friends who try to convince us to do things our parents don’t want us to do, like watch a movie we aren’t supposed to see.

Staci: Teachers or coaches that seem like they know a lot, but disagree with what the Bible teaches.

Dannah: Our desires that tell us we need a certain relationship to be happy, like a popular friend or a boyfriend.

Staci: Our culture that tells us crazy stuff, like we must have social media to have friends.

Dannah: Let me read one more verse to you today. John 10:10. It says:

“[Satan]’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy; [Jesus’] purpose is to give [you] a rich and satisfying life.”

Satan wants you to feel bad. That’s his purpose. He wants to steal joy, peace, and all the other good stuff from your heart. 

Staci: But Jesus wants something entirely different for you. He wants you to enjoy life. His purpose is to make sure you’re living a rich and satisfying life! And that’s what we’ll help you learn about in the Truth Lab. 

Which reminds me, are we gonna help Sadie, Dannah?

Dannah: Yes, let me rev this lie detection machine up. 

Staci: Sure is loud!

Dannah: Yeah. Let me put in Sadie’s letter. We just have to . . . it won’t take long . . .

Staci: Yep, that red light and alarm means a lie is at work in Sadie’s life!

Dannah: And it should . . .

Yep! It’s printing out the lie detector report. This should help us get to the bottom of Sadie’s problem. 

There we go! Let’s see.

Hmm, this is going to be very helpful to a lot of girls. Oh yes. 

Staci: What, Dannah!? What does it say?

Dannah: Well, would ya like to know how to overcome lies about beauty?

Staci: Tell me a girl that wouldn’t! 

Dannah: Okay. This says that the lie Sadie is believing is, “Pretty girls are worth more.”

Staci: Boy, have I felt that way before!

Dannah: Me, too! So have a lot of girls. The lie detector machine compiles all the responses of more than 1,500 actual tween girls who we surveyed. And guess what?

Staci: What?

Dannah: Almost half of them are not happy with how they look.

Staci: What should they do?

Dannah: Well, the Bible tells us things like hairstyles, nice clothes, and jewelry, are not what God considers beautiful. 

Staci: What about smooth, hairless arms?

Dannah: No, not that either! The physical qualities that are so important to us are not worth much to God.

Well, our report tells us the truth they need! It’s 1 Samuel 16:7. Let me read it:

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 

The lie detector machine recommends concentrating on the beauty that matters most: your heart. The report says, “You become most beautiful to God when you get excited about wearing things like kindness, helpfulness, and cheerfulness, rather than some cool new shoes, or a great lip gloss . . . or hair-free arms!”

Staci: That machine is awesome!

So, True Girl, do you love the way you look? If your immediate answer is “no,” you’re not alone.

I want you to know that nowhere does the Bible say it’s bad to want to be beautiful or to appreciate beauty in someone else. But it is wrong to go crazy over physical beauty without being concerned with the beauty of our hearts. So, spend time this week learning how to be helpful. Ask someone to hold you accountable to be more truthful. Or practice giving by saving some money and taking it to your church or to someone who has a special need. These are the things God finds beautiful!

Dannah: That’s right.And here’s a news flash. The real Truth Lab isn’t here with Staci and me, but we’ll teach you where it is and how to use it. There you can practice identifying lies and replacing them with truth. I can’t wait to show you how in this season of the True Girl podcast!

Staci: Hey, what kind of tea do you want?

Dannah: You got any strawberry lemon dazzle fruit?

Staci: You got it. 

Claire: Wow, True Girl, if you’ve ever struggled with feeling ugly? Why don’t you write 1 Samuel 16:7 on a Post-it note and put it somewhere you can see it all week long. That’s 1 Samuel 16:7. Remember, God finds the beauty of our heart to be far more valuable than the way we look on the outside. 

And Mom, Dannah mentioned a survey of 1,500 tween girls. You can explore that data when you read Mom’s Guide to Lies Girls Believe.

And for you, True Girl, Dannah Gresh wrote Lies Girls Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free. Over 100,000 girls have used this book to experience incredible freedom. Maybe you’ll be next!

You can get both of these books at MyTrueGirl.com. You can also get tickets to the live True Girl event coming to a city near you. The True Girl team is on tour right now!

Next time we’ll ask the question: where do lies get their power? Find out on the next episode of True Girl.

The True Girl podcast is produced by Revive Our Hearts, calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness!

All Scripture is taken from the NLT.

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