Label makers. What a cool concept. Brother offers a label maker with over 50 pre-designed labels. WOW. No more having to come up with categories on my own. They are pre-designed for me. It also has 'recall', for frequently used words. I can also save and print up to 99 of my favorites. What will they think of next?
Have you ever stopped to think of how, we as humans, need to give things a label? Some sort of category that it should fit in. How do we decide what label to give it? Is it based on what it does? Or based on what it is designed to do? Like a stapler. That one is easy. It staples, so we label it a stapler. But did you know it can also be used as a paperweight? Or a hammer? How come we don't call it a hammer? Because it is a stapler, not a hammer.
Why then do we label people differently than we label things? We tend to put people in categories that aren't necessarily what they really are. Let's look at some of the labels and categories we have.
Loser, winner, rich, poor, trash, Deadbeat Dad, alcoholic, black sheep, worthless, good-for-nothing, whore, murderer, etc. You get my point. The list is endless. Positive and negative, we all wear a label. And we have all been labeled at some time or another with names that are not who we really are. Like calling a stapler a hammer. We fell down once or twice and got labeled a clutz, when in reality, we are graceful elegant beings.
Here are some bad things I got labeled with in my lifetime. Shy, fearful, lazy, tramp, drama queen, needy, bossy, pot boiler, liar, hater, player, whore, and so it goes on and on. Every harsh word, every name placed on me, had some influence on who I believed myself to be. Each name, specifically our given name, also has a meaning. My name means "farmer".
In the article, "The Given Names" by Professor G. L.Esterson, it states the following:
"In Judaism, the given name is much more than just a label identifying an individual -- it represents HIM -- his values, his personality, his stance with respect to religious, cultural, assimilational issues, in short, his essence. The given name determines not only the person's character but also his fate, and the name therefore takes on a highly charged symbolic value."
(Interesting how a name determines the character and fate of the child.)
What if....we had the ability to rip off the labels that have been assigned to us that have harmed us, and made us into someone that we are not? Rip off the label of "loser", "lazy", "slacker" and replace it with "winner", "hard working", "productive".
...Oh, but you know, I'm just calling it as I see it! He's never been good at anything. Just last year he was doing this and that....blah, blah, blah!!
WOW! Whatever happened to the possiblity that people can change? That people can grow up and mature and learn from their mistakes? Is it possible to re-label ourselves? I believe it is.
I believe that we can gain a new and clearer insight into who we really are. Or who we were created to be. I believe that we can remove the negative labels that have been slapped on our foreheads by parents, teachers, family, friends, enemies. Isn't it all about perspective? Isn't it maybe about how we perceive ourselves? Is it that simple? No, it's not that simple.
But I would like to challenge you to take another look at the labels on your life, and the labels that you place on others. Can we learn to help each other see ourselves as we should be? Can we help someone rip the adhesive strip off. Like a bandaid, we wear it as a symbol of our pain and suffering. (Wanna see my owie? ummm...no) Tear off the labels that keep you down and replace them with labels of redemption and forgiveness.
Begin to see yourself as God sees you. As precious, lovely, favored, whole, complete, worth far more than rubies.
Try it for a day and see what happens. It can't hurt! I'm gonna go out and buy me a big fancy label maker and start labeling people all over again!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Friday, October 15, 2010
He'll be loving you...always
(Letter to a friend)
Dearest V,
These nine verses are a brief summary of my life. They speak volumes about how much God loves us.
Psalm 116:1-9
1 I love the LORD, because He hears my voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!" 5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. 6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7 Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 8 For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 9 I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living.
I thought about what you said tonight, and it really struck a cord with me. I hear myself in your words. I don't know how many times in my life that I have struggled with believing that God really loved me. You know, we hear it all the time and we say "Yeah, sure. God loves me. That's nice." But, I've never felt worthy of His love, never felt good enough, pretty enough, important enough. Kind of figured I was a bother. After all, I was always failing. Not trying hard enough, never giving 100%. Sort of reminds me of my report cards as a child. "Georgia is not performing up to her potential" "She could be an A student if she would just apply herself"
BUT! This verse says that God hears my voice. Wow. That right there is enough for me to want to celebrate. He hears me. (Being the youngest of seven, that is a big thing.) I matter to Him so much that, amidst all the other voices, He hears ME. It's like when a little kid says, "mom, mom.....mom" and then once mom responds the little guy says everything he needs to because he knows mom is listening. She has inclined her ear to him.
David has always been the one I have associated with the most. An absolute failure in many peoples eyes, yet God loved him so much. "I was brought low, and He saved me." Falling...getting up....falling again...getting up...fall.....yeah, you get the picture. Sounds like my life. When nobody else cared, He cared. When I fell and failed (understatement) He saved me. But more importantly, He still loved me. And He still LOVES me. As imperfect and grumpy and mouthy and whiny and negative as I can be...He still loves me.
I believe that no matter how many times we fall or fail or faint or even fake, God's love for us is never ending. One thing He told me once is that His love is not like man's love. It's perfect. To me, that means it unwavering. It's not dependent on my behavior. I don't have to strive and struggle to get Him to love me. He just does. No particular reason, He just does. I can relax in that FACT. "Return to your rest, O my soul..." Chill out! Sleep peacefully! Stop striving. Stop trying to deserve it and just accept it.
Love ya,
GG
Dearest V,
These nine verses are a brief summary of my life. They speak volumes about how much God loves us.
Psalm 116:1-9
1 I love the LORD, because He hears my voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!" 5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. 6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7 Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. 8 For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 9 I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living.
I thought about what you said tonight, and it really struck a cord with me. I hear myself in your words. I don't know how many times in my life that I have struggled with believing that God really loved me. You know, we hear it all the time and we say "Yeah, sure. God loves me. That's nice." But, I've never felt worthy of His love, never felt good enough, pretty enough, important enough. Kind of figured I was a bother. After all, I was always failing. Not trying hard enough, never giving 100%. Sort of reminds me of my report cards as a child. "Georgia is not performing up to her potential" "She could be an A student if she would just apply herself"
BUT! This verse says that God hears my voice. Wow. That right there is enough for me to want to celebrate. He hears me. (Being the youngest of seven, that is a big thing.) I matter to Him so much that, amidst all the other voices, He hears ME. It's like when a little kid says, "mom, mom.....mom" and then once mom responds the little guy says everything he needs to because he knows mom is listening. She has inclined her ear to him.
David has always been the one I have associated with the most. An absolute failure in many peoples eyes, yet God loved him so much. "I was brought low, and He saved me." Falling...getting up....falling again...getting up...fall.....yeah, you get the picture. Sounds like my life. When nobody else cared, He cared. When I fell and failed (understatement) He saved me. But more importantly, He still loved me. And He still LOVES me. As imperfect and grumpy and mouthy and whiny and negative as I can be...He still loves me.
I believe that no matter how many times we fall or fail or faint or even fake, God's love for us is never ending. One thing He told me once is that His love is not like man's love. It's perfect. To me, that means it unwavering. It's not dependent on my behavior. I don't have to strive and struggle to get Him to love me. He just does. No particular reason, He just does. I can relax in that FACT. "Return to your rest, O my soul..." Chill out! Sleep peacefully! Stop striving. Stop trying to deserve it and just accept it.
Love ya,
GG
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