Labels

I've been thinking lately about labels. At workcamp this summer, they did an exercise where they stuck a nametag on themselves with something people had said about them. It could be good or bad: smart, beautiful, rich, or dumb, ugly, poor. Either way, the name tag was torn off and they came forward to hear that they were beloved children of God.

A similar exercise was done last week at Kidmin, only with labels about your ministry. Success or failure, good enough or not good enough. Then a slide show came up with words describing how God sees us.

And all of this got me thinking that labels don't have to be negative to be bad. Elle Woods in Legally Blonde is labelled as rich and beautiful—but that's all people can see her as. No one believes she really has the intelligence to succeed as a lawyer. Another person I know is extremely intelligent, but sometimes feels as if that's her only value to those around her. It's nice to be thought of as beautiful or smart, but when that becomes your sole worth to the world, you've become just an object. You feel like who you really are is lost behind this mask of the one thing people say about you.

The problem with labels, positive or negative, is that pretty soon they become the sum of what you are. This is one of my concerns about being a mother. Many of the mothers I know seem to have only that as their identity. The truth is, we are all so much broader than one or two adjectives can describe.

The thing about the child of God label is that it is the sum of everything we are. God has created us as his children, with all of our specific personality quirks, talents, roles, and the way we look. All of who we are, whether others see that as good or bad, is wrapped up in "beloved child of God."

Tear off any other labels that you're wearing. Don't let one adjective describe you. You, beloved child of God, are exactly who he created you to be.