Labels

1 John 3:1-10

 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

⁴ Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. ⁵ But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. ⁶ No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

⁷ Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. ⁹ No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

If you have followed my blog at all you know that my mom is an addict or you could say an addict trying to recover.  

It has been well over 6 months since either of my girls spent time with her due to her addiction. 

That being said she has been clean and is trying to fight the battle of choosing to stay clean.   

Last week my mom came over for the afternoon to spend some time with the girls.

After I dropped her back off at home I was reflecting on our time together.  

As I compared the way I reacted to my mom that afternoon and the way my girls reacted to her Jesus spoke truth into my heart.

Watching my two year old love my mom for who she is despite her past failures broke me inside.  It’s amazing how a two year old can demonstrate the love of Jesus right in front of you.

I wish I could say the same thing for myself but I can’t.  You see my mom and I have history together.  I have watched the devastating patterns of addiction and felt firsthand the effect it can have on others.  As the day pressed forward and I started to feel the weight of our history on my mind and heart it was hard for me to contain my frustration and hurt.  She hadn’t done anything wrong that afternoon, but I couldn’t help but label and judge her for everything in the past.

Addict

Lazy

Broken

Weak

Disappointment

Lost

Damaged

As if her struggle hasn’t been hard enough, but now she gets to wear the labels I have made for her!

 I am sure she has plenty of labels for herself, does she really need mine.

We all wear labels.   

Some are labels of truth while others are labels of defeat and lies. 

Does Jesus look at our history and label us?

Hmm……

We ALL have history with Jesus and despite our history He chooses to love us.  Now I am not saying there aren’t consequences for bad choices and that He doesn’t want better for us, but what I am saying is He still loves us despite our bad choices and sinful nature.

We ALL sin, but our goal is to be working to gain victory over our sinful nature not to live in it.  We can’t do this without His truth.

Satan wants nothing more than for us to continue to live in our sin and labels.  He wants to drag us around in his lies and make us feel so defeated that we continue to run back to the negative labels we place on our self and the labels others place on us.  Satan will try anything to pull you further and further away from Gods truth.

Evil will always lose out to good in the end.  

If we can begin to recognize the voice of defeat and the muck it drags us in every time we choose to believe it, then we can begin to battle it with the truth.

I battle my own labels daily but I am done believing it as truth.

I am walking away from the lies.

 Today I am reminded that I am a daughter of the one true king!

What if instead of wearing the labels that we place on ourselves and others we start believing and living like we are His children. 

 As His children we can live apart from the sin that ties us to our brokenness and failures.  

 Choosing to walk away from the labels can be the hardest part when your life has been built around them.  But what waits for you on the other side is a new life built around a voice that can make all things new if you are willing to let Him. 

When I look at myself and my mom I might see the weak and broken sinner, but you know what He can see?  

His child

Are you wearing a label that shouldn’t be there?  Maybe you are not only labeling yourself but labeling others around you.  Challenge yourself to let go of the labels that keep you bound from experiencing the freedom Christ offers you.

We are no longer defined by all the wreckage behind – Mathew West

Mathew West

Hello my name is

Hello, my name is regret
I'm pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I'm the whisper inside
That won't let you forget

Hello, my name is defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I'll drag you right back down again
‘Til you've lost all belief

These are the voices, these are the lies
And I have believed them, for the very last time

Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed,
And I have been set free
“Amazing Grace” is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King

I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it's true
Just take a look at my life

What love the Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called His children
I am a child of the one true King