How many labels do you have in your life? When you think about who and what you are, what are some of the words that come to mind? For many of us, those labels bring back bad memories and spark negative emotions that include shame, remorse, and anger. Today, discover what it would be like to put down the label maker, so you no longer see yourself through the lens of your past. God doesn’t see you with those labels, and you shouldn’t either.
2 Corinthians 5:16-18 (NLT)
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun. And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
Have you ever used a label maker when trying to organize the things you’ve put into storage in your basement, attic, or garage? If so, you know how useful those label makers can be. Unfortunately for many of us, over the years, we often shove other items into those labeled boxes that we have in storage. At the time, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. If you have a box labeled “toys” that contains some of your child’s toys that he or she has outgrown, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to put some old clothes in the box. However, when you do that, the label on the outside of the box no longer indicative of what is inside the box.
Our lives work the same way. Before we come to know Christ, our lives are filled with all sorts of unrighteousness. Perhaps your past labels included addiction, sexual immorality, gossip, or any other number of ungodly traits. If we’re being honest, most of us have some things in our past that we’re not proud of. However, according to the passage we just read from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, those things don’t define what’s inside us anymore.
When you start putting old clothes in the box in your attic labeled “toys,” what’s inside no longer aligns with the label. When we accept Christ as our Savior, our labels no longer match what’s on the inside. Today, learn what it means to put down the label maker and stop defining yourself by what used to be inside. You are a new creation, and today is the day that you can start living like it!
Dropping the Rebellious Label
1 Peter 1:14 (NLT)
So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
Before we were members of the family of God, all of us had an inherently rebellious nature. When we were “of the world,” we lived only to satisfy the desires of our flesh. Unfortunately, our fleshly desires were in direct opposition to God’s plans for our lives. Even if you didn’t consider yourself a rebel, your life of sin led to you being rebellious against the ideas that God wants His people to exhibit.
Rebellion leaves us feeling shame, remorse, and even self-condemnation for the things that we did when we were living a life that was in opposition to the things of God. The decisions that you make when you’re rebelling against God do not align with Scripture. Those decisions leave us bearing the label of being a “rebel.”
When you become a disciple of Christ, you no longer live a life of rebellion. Even though our culture teaches us that rebellion is a “cool” or “trendy.” However, that’s simply not the case. Today, you are no longer labeled by your rebellion. Instead, you are labeled by your obedience to God’s Word and what He wants for your life.
You’re No Longer an Underdog
Philippians 1:13-14 (NLT)
For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.
We love an underdog story. In 2002, the New England Patriots faced the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl. While many sports fans today know about the dynasty that was the New England Patriots over the last two decades, it didn’t start out that way. In fact, New England was an underdog. Going into the Super Bowl in 2002, the Rams offense was referred to as “The Greatest Show on Turf.” Their ability to score quickly and often had set them atop the NFL. Many experts claimed that New England had no chance, especially since they were being led by a new quarterback who most people weren’t familiar with named Tom Brady.
Obviously, we know how the game ended. The Patriots defense stifled the Rams potent offense, holding the Rams to only three points. The victory would prove to be the beginning of one of the most dominant runs in the history of American sports. The Patriots went on to win five more Super Bowls in the next 17 years. Even in the game where they were the underdog, the Patriots didn’t view themselves that way.
Maybe you have overcome adversity in your life, and you used to consider yourself an underdog. It’s hard for underdogs to ever really get ahead, because they don’t always win. While we do love a story in which the underdog pulls off an upset, that doesn’t always happen. In fact, it’s rare.
However, because of your relationship with Christ, you are no longer an underdog. Instead, the Bible declares that you are more than a conqueror because of your standing in the family of God (Romans 8:37)!
Don’t Consider Yourself an Outsider
1 Peter 2:5 (NLT)
And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the meditation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
Perhaps the decisions that you made before you were a member of God’s family had left you estranged from people. Maybe you made selfish decisions to feed an addiction, or maybe you lied and manipulated people in your quest to make it to the top in your career field. Either way, the things you’ve done in the past may have made you feel like an outsider.
In the eyes of God, you are not an outsider. In this passage from 1 Peter, we find two separate things that God says about you. First of all, you are a living stone who is being used by God to build His temple. Additionally, you have been made a member of the royal priesthood of God.
In Biblical times, the High Priest was the only person who was allowed to enter into the presence of God. To make things even more complicated, he was only allowed to do that during certain days. However, when Christ died on the cross, the veil that separated the common man from God’s presence was torn from the top to the bottom. That symbolized the fact that God tore the veil because He didn’t want anyone to be left on the outside looking in.
Whether you’ve been made an outsider by your own actions or through the actions of someone else, you are no longer an outsider. In John 3:16, we learn that God loved the world so much that He gave His only son so we could have everlasting life with Him. God had a Son, but He wanted to have a family. Even more importantly, He wanted you to be a part of it.
Today, stop viewing yourself as an outsider. You are a vital part of God’s holy family.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help me to overcome the labels that others have put on me and those that I have put on myself. I know that because of You, I am a new creation. Help me to embrace what You say about me, only being defined by Your Word. In Christ’s name, Amen.