Stages of Spiritual Development: A Growth Plan for Women

This article is a review of Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free.

This book is a great tool that helps women better understand the stages of spiritual development that we go through as we embark on our spiritual journey. The basic tenets are that believing in Satan’s lies places us in bondage, while the Truth has the power to set us free.

Thoughtfully written with practical application in mind, each chapter of this book includes reflection questions, discussion points, relevant Scripture to counter each lie, as well as prayers in seeking God’s help.

Three Stages of Spiritual Development for Women

Here is an outline of the three stages of spiritual development for women:

Stage One: Understanding Eve Then and What It Means For Us Now

It starts with Eve and the deception in the Garden of Eden. Eve sinned after listening to the lies of the serpent. What used to be a pure and perfect existence with the Father then became a sinful world, marked by separation from God.

Ever since then, the lies that Eve was deceived into believing have been passed down from generation to generation, sparing no one. Isolation, defeat, failure — these are feelings that believers and nonbelievers alike experience, since Eve’s moment in the garden.

As a result of the original sin, Christian women experience bondage. By definition, being in bondage means one is unable to enjoy the fullness of God’s grace and love. There are many different types of bondage, but one thing is common about them all — they rob us of our birthright as believers, to have total peace and joy in Christ.

If we think deeply about it, the root of all problems in this world can be traced back to some lie that we have chosen, whether intentionally or not, to believe. In this case, the crucial next step then is to recognize these lies, so we can know exactly what we’re up against and how to battle with the enemy.

Stage Two: Recognizing the Lies That Bind Us

This book outlines eight of the most common lies that women believe. The top three will be discussed in more extensive detail.

Lie #1 — Our View of God

Just like Eve, the enemy also uses the same tactic to deceive us. He uses our lack of understanding of God’s character to plant seeds of doubt. For example, we may know that God is good, but what about when times are bad?

Can He still be considered good if He allows bad things to happen? Especially to good people, to His children? What about when He doesn’t answer our prayers according to how we want them answered? Does He not love us enough?

Scripture clearly states in Psalm 119:68 that “God is good and everything He does is good ….” But unless the foundation of our view of God is right, this will just be an intellectual fact in our minds that won’t translate to the necessary spiritual armor we need to battle the enemy’s lies.

Lie #2 — Our View of Ourselves

Another way that a wrong perspective of God affects us is the distorted way in which we view ourselves. If there is even a shred of doubt about God’s omnipotence and sovereignty, we become susceptible to believing lies that we are not worth anything. These lies can cause bondage and mental health issues that persist throughout adulthood.

Jesus, who was “rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him” (1 Peter 2:4), can relate to this pain. But He chose to operate on God’s view of Him, and not man’s. This very perspective enabled Jesus to do the same and die on the cross for us, because He based our worth not on worldly standards (sinful and worthless), but on the price God was willing to pay for us (Jesus’ life).

Various other self-focused entitlement lies are discussed in this section of the book as well.

Lie #3 — Our View of Sin

Because we were born into a fallen world, sin is a part of Christian life, hence the need for a Savior. Being a Christian doesn’t mean we are immune to sin, but it’s supposed to mean that we abhor sin, and therefore sin less and less. However, that may not always be the case, especially when we believe Satan’s lies about it.

Satan makes us think that we can sin and get away with it, minimizing the effects of the consequences. Satan makes us question what God has already clearly declared about sin — that it causes separation from God. God told Eve that she would die if she ate the forbidden fruit, yet she believed Satan’s deceitful “Surely, you won’t die?” as if the sin wasn’t that bad to warrant such consequence. This type of lie and other similar lies are further elaborated on in the book.

The five other lies (which we won’t be delving deeper into today) focus on priorities in life, marriage, children, emotions, and circumstances we’re in. As we go through the book, we can see that each chapter was written to help us get to the most important stage — walking in the truth!

Stage Three: Walking in the Truth

As mentioned earlier, the Truth has the power to set us free from the stronghold of bondage that these lies have over us. The only way to know the Truth is to grow in our faith and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The more we know Him (personally, and not just facts about Him), the less power these lies have to hold us imprisoned.

Towards the end of the book, the author shares specific powerful Scriptures to break whatever bondage we may be in. With the Lord’s help, we can be freed from this and live the life of freedom and liberty fitting for a believer.

If you struggle to do this on your own, reach out to one of the counselors found in our counselor directory. After all, we are meant to help carry each other’s burdens (Gal 6:2), and we would be happy to help in whatever way we can.