Jennie Allen, 49, Reveals 3 Hidden Lies Women Tell Themselves and How to Break Free: ‘The Second I Say Out Loud, It Disarms It’ (Exclusive)
A touching moment with her daughter led the bestselling Christian author to uncover the untruths stealing women's joy—and how to fix them
Key Takeaways
- Jennie Allen identifies 3 core lies women believe: I'm worthless, helpless, unlovable.
- Saying your hidden lies out loud is the first step to disarming their power.
- Replace false beliefs with Bible-based truth to experience lasting freedom.
What if the biggest obstacle to your happiness isn’t something you can see, but a lie you’ve been believing your whole life? Bible teacher and bestselling author Jennie Allen says we all carry hidden lies that shape everything from our relationships to our self-worth. But once you identify these lies, you can finally break free. In her powerful new book, The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe: How to Find It, Fight It, and Live Free, Allen shows readers how to find the lies and replace them with Bible-based truth that transforms everything.
The heartbreaking moment that inspired Jennie Allen’s new book
Allen says the seeds of this book were planted years ago while writing her 2020 book Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts. “I knew that there were thought patterns that had been there for decades for people that it would feel impossible to shift with just interrupting thoughts,” she explains. That realization stayed with her, and she tucked it away as a message she knew she’d one day need to share.
That day came during a personal moment with her daughter, Kate. Sitting across from her then-20-year-old, who Jennie describes as “gorgeous” and thriving. She was blindsided when she said, “Mom, I just feel so broken. I feel so defective, like I messed up and I can’t be fixed,” her daughter confessed. Allen’s instinct was immediate: “This is so obviously a lie.” But her daughter pushed back and stood firm in her belief that this lie swirling around in her mind was true.
In that instant, Jennie realized something profound. “This is the same lie I’ve believed all my life,” she later confessed to herself. Despite raising her daughter in a loving, supportive home, she saw how deeply these false beliefs can take root. “I really believe that it was contagious,” she says, recognizing how her own internal struggles may have been silently passed down.
Jennie Allen identifies the 3 core lies we all carry
Out of that experience and years of reflection, Jennie identifies the three core lies we often tell ourselves without even realizing it in her new book, The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe. They are: “I am worthless, I’m helpless, I’m unlovable.”
She explains that these toxic beliefs lay a foundation in people’s lives and can shape their identity and behavior without them even being conscious of it.
“Nobody gets through life without failure and betrayal,” she says. “And when that happens, that’s when the lie enters.”
These lies don’t just appear. Unfortunately, they grow in the deepest parts of our hearts that we don’t realize. Allen recalls how even now, as a successful author, those thoughts still surface. “It’s pretty crazy, because now I’m 49 and guess what? Those things are still circling in my head.”
How to replace hidden lies with truth
It is possible to move past these lies, but the key, she says, isn’t self-criticism. “Beating the lies out of us is never going to work. You have to replace the lie with truth.” And one of the most powerful ways to begin is simple but vulnerable: saying the hidden lie out loud—pretty soon you’ll see how ridiculous it sounds. “The second I say it out loud, it disarms it,” she says.
Will the lies ever go away?
Allen doesn’t sugarcoat the struggle. “We live in a world that is so loud. It is whispering lies every day,” she says. The thoughts may not disappear entirely, but they can lose their power.
“It gets easier. It’s just like a muscle,” she explains. With practice, she’s learned to recognize the lies quickly. “I’m so zealous for my freedom that if I feel anxious for more than an hour, I’m asking myself questions.”
For those who have never experienced that kind of freedom, Allen’s message is filled with hope. “When you taste it, there’s a physical shift,” she says, recalling moments when people realize the truth for the first time. “You realize that you don’t have to live in this.”
Jennie’s greatest wish for readers
Her deepest prayer for readers reflects the heart behind The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe: “My biggest prayer for this book is that it gives people a taste of freedom in a way that they may never get.” Because once that freedom is felt, everything changes, and a new way of living becomes possible.
Pick up The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe on Amazon or anywhere books are sold and discover the one lie you didn’t know you believed with Jennie’s quiz.
Ready for more truths? Subscribe to our YouTube channel for video podcasts, health tips and uplifting stories designed for women 40, 50, 60 and beyond.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Woman's World does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.
