Let’s be honest we’ve all used them, whether it’s the woman we pass in the grocery store with two kids in the cart crying – TIRED.
The boss who doesn’t treat us the way we think we should be treated – JERK.
Or the young woman who saunters through a restaurant as heads turn to watch – PRETTY.
These labels seem somewhat innocuous since they are rarely more than a passing thought.
OH YEAH, YOU’VE BEEN LABELED TOO…
We’ve all been defined by labels. Sometimes it’s that well-meaning family member or friend that slaps us with the tag of ‘the worker-bee’, ‘the nosy one’, or ‘the black sheep’.
More often than not the most damaging labels are the ones that we give ourselves.
We think of them as the truth, but really they are road bumps in the way of where God’s destiny would lead us to go.
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I LABELED MYSELF
If you’ve ever heard my story, you know I was abandoned and rejected by my biological father. I experienced sexual abuse as a child, and was raped as a teenager.
All of this caused me to give myself a label—unwanted because I’m damaged goods.
In my own way I tried to become loveable.
In doing this, I became an unwed mother. Then I married a man I thought was very into me, in turns out he was physically and emotionally abusive.
When I tried to change the labels on my own, my efforts I only sank further into those damaging definitions.
SO HOW DID THE LABELS CHANGE
When I stopped trying to change my own life my way and finally decided to accept the label that Christ had for me, everything changed.
You see, He believed in me when I didn’t.
He believed the best in me when I couldn’t.
He knew there was a future for so far beyond what I could imagine when all I saw was bleak and dark.
The more I read what God’s Word said about me, the old labels continue to fade away as I continue to accept the labels that Christ has for me.
I am His masterpiece, created new in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:10)
Strong – in the Lord and the power of His might (Eph 6:10)
That God is working ALL things for my good (Rom 8:28)
Full of potential and created on purpose (Jer 1:5)
Lovely and wonderfully made (Ps 139:13)
Excellent in every way (Gen 1:31)
And so are YOU!!!!!!
AND ABOUT YOU…
Be aware of negative labels that you may be accepting and look to the BIBLE to define you.
You are the CHILD of the MOST HIGH, You are HIS BELOVED, You are worth DYING FOR! Let’s continue to walk in the true definition of who we are!
YOUR TURN
It’s your turn to encourage someone today. If God has revealed something to you about who you are in Him, share the good news with us!!!
Your blog today is a blessing, Pastor Nicole. I have the privilege of seeing your television program on Sunday mornings at 5:30 a.m. while I’m getting ready for church, and I saw your testimony yesterday morning. I guess you shared the testimony at your recent conference (so sorry I had to miss it, I was out-of-state). It was similar to your blog today.
We all need to be reminded that God’s label of us and our label, or the world’s may differ, but it’s God’s label that counts. Your joy, your countenance, and sharing your experience and God’s Truths, inspire incredible hope.
Thank you, Pastor Nicole, for the continued encouragement and for you and Pastor David always keeping it real. 🙂
A BiZillion X’s,
Sherry
I too was molested from the age of 4 til the 3rd grade by my GrandFather and a baby sitter.. When I tried to protect my little cousin from my GF by telling her to stay away from GF, don’t be alone with him, the conversation was over heard by my mother. Stuff hit the fan to say the least. I was called a Lair and Deemed “The Black Sheep of the family”. I knew what the truth was! I knew what I did was right! But still that effected me for so many years. But my Heavenly Father REdeemed me. 6 months before my Grandfather died, my GF was led to Christ. I was 29 and pregnant with my 1st child and I get a call from GF to ask for my forgiveness for he now realizes what he did.
I was redeemed!
I had already forgiven him years before when God reeled me in from my mess. You see that same year that I was called the Black sheep was the same year my Daddy led ME to Christ. I still went through low self esteem, still went through drugs and other stuff through my teens, but at 22 yrs old, GOD gently called me back.
I found out the my Gf was abused as a child. Tied up put in closets, and I’m sure his life as a child sucked to.
But more important, I had read in the Bible, the sins of the forefathers are passed to the 3rd and 4th generations. I was the 4th of abuse and it was stopping here. I understood why that happened. I also read about forgiveness, and it is so vital to our relationship with our heavenly Father as well as our health, relationships with others, and how we see ourselves.
The “Label” that I was give as a child by my family, God RE labeled me his Princess
God Bless you all.
The Bi