Labels

Labels are everywhere.
  They tell us how many calories we consume.
 They warn us of possible side effects.
   They tell us the latest and greatest brands.

Labels are all over our society.
 Now step outside the visible labels.
Let's be honest here.....we label those around us. Even worse, we label ourselves. Labeling is a habit we sometimes don't even realize we do. We say things to ourselves repeatedly, and saying it so much often makes it so we are putting a big label across our chest. It may be one only we see, but it is a blazing neon in our own eyes.  Just a few examples would be:
  Divorced.
    Fat.
      Adulterer.
        Ugly.
         Failure.
           Angry.
             Depressed.
               Anxious.
                 Infertile.

Those words, or "labels", are things we put on ourselves when we  have done something, gone through something, or feel something that the world says is wrong, or ugly, or bad. And when we repeat it in our minds enough, we become consumed by it, just as a product on a shelf is posted with a label, telling us what we, as consumers are about to have.
   The beauty in us labeling is that it doesn't have to BE that.
      I struggle with this. I, myself, will have a battle within my own mind about this, often times daily and even hourly. I get consumed by it. And the label I put on myself isn't true. I struggle with the battle of looking in the mirror and not loving what I see. I get consumed with what the world puts out there as good and when I see myself, I don't always see myself as God sees me.
 Or I see my past mistakes and label myself with those, hanging my head even at times, feeling like that neon sign is flashing brightly for everyone to see.
 I struggle with seeing myself as God sees me. But I realize this and I am working on it daily. and working on it is the best place to be. I'm allowing God to teach me. I am allowing HIM to place the label on me, and not me place the label there.
   So let's change something. One label, one thought at a time. Let's look at others differently. Better yet, is to start within our own hearts and look at ourselves differently. Perhaps I should say, I am going to start with me. I am going to endeavor on a new journey of looking at myself like God does. It won't be easy all the time, but with Him all things are possible.  Below aren't necessarily all labels of my own, just examples of labels we put out there and hang around our necks. Have you felt one or put one on you? Cross it out. Put on God's label.
   Divorced                     wanted
Fat                                 loved
Adulterer                       forgiven
     Ugly                         beautiful
          Failure                Redeemed
Angry                            kind
    Depressed                sympathetic/empathetic
 Anxious                        normal
    Infertile                      God's child


 Rip off the label you are putting on yourself and replace it with how God views you. Because He doesn't see you that way....He sees His child. His creation. And that is beautiful in and of itself.
   Psalm 139: 13-16 
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.