Throw away the label maker

The theme of the year so far seems to be names. God has been bringing it up in our church fairly regularly and its been showing up in other guises as discussions regarding “the masks we wear”, the “labels we give ourselves and others”, and “how we hide”. Maybe its the theme of the year because its taking us so long to get it into our brains. Or maybe its because we have so many names on top of names that we have given ourselves (or that someone else said about us and we believed) that its taking us awhile to dig out from underneath the pile.
We’ve been having a really great women’s group this semester where I feel like people are breaking free from quite a bit of junk. Last week, the discussion revolved around a few of us who are learning about all the labels we have given ourselves and how we don’t even know who we really are underneath it all. It will be exciting to move forward and be who we were created to be instead of who everyone else tells us we have to be. But what does that look like? As one lady asked, “Where’s the practical application?”

Here’s what I think:
First, we have to recognize the lie/name/label. Acceptance is probably half the battle.
Second, we have to understand whether that name is from God or from the world.
If its not a name that God calls us, we have to figure out why we believed it and then learn God’s truth in that situation. Sometimes this involves a bit of pain, but for the people I’ve seen who have gone there, they are so free and peaceful now.
Lastly, I think we really need to be aware of the names and labels we use about ourselves and the people around us. And when we do use labels, we need to make sure they are positive.

Pastor made a good point in service a few weeks ago. Instead of saying “I’m a sinner.”, we should say “I’m a Christian who sometimes sins.” Or instead of saying “You’re a liar.”, we should say “You lied to me.”. Its such a subtle difference, but it makes a world of difference to a child who has just made a single mistake and gets labeled as a “liar”. Many of the labels we’ve been uncovering in group have a stem at a very young age.

I don’t think I’m done uncovering the labels and lies that I have believed about myself, there’s some work I need to do there. But I am going to try to go forward without labeling the people I love most; my husband, my kids, and me. Its time to throw away the label maker and only use the names God has for us. Maybe once I’ve removed some of that language from my vocabulary, I’ll be better at loving the rest of the people around me. I like the bridge of the song “I am New”, by Jason Gray. It gives me some ideas of good labels to use. I know it doesn’t end there, but I’ve got to start somewhere:

Forgiven, beloved,
Hidden in Christ,
Made in the image of the Giver of Life,
Righteous, and holy,
Reborn, and remade,
Accepted, and worthy, this is our new name

This is who we are now…