Mislabeled No More

 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

  The jacket the woman was wearing was beautiful – a soft shade of pale yellow with a hint of cream and brown swirled throughout. But what caught my eye  seconds later was a strip of masking tape on the back, just below the left shoulder. On it was written “$5.00” and under that the initials C.R.

  Obviously the woman had purchased the jacket at a garage sale. There is nothing wrong with that – some of my best treasures have come from those sales – but suddenly instead of seeing the beauty of the jacket, my focus was on the garage sale label that was stuck to it. And I began to wonder what to do next:  take off the label or leave it and act like it wasn’t there.

  We all wear labels, don’t we. Maybe they aren’t as obvious as the one on the woman’s jacket. But they can become a part of our lives without even realizing it. Do any of these labels sound familiar? Worthless, loser, failure, unloved, ugly, neglected, afraid, defeated, depressed, broken, ashamed. Sometimes others may label us in these terms – but many times we label ourselves. 

  There is so much freedom in knowing that II Corinthians 5:17 throws out those labels once and for all. It says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” A new creation! That’s the label we should be wearing as Christians. 

But unfortunately we allow Satan to not only whisper mistakes we may have made in the past but try to stick those labels on us today. If we allow him to succeed, it will affect our witness to others as well as how we view ourselves as children of the Creator.

  Today, this very minute, stand up and shout “I cannot change the past but I CAN change the future because I belong to Christ and He lives in me.” And the labels? Praise God, they are transformed!

• Worthless becomes Treasured!

• Loser becomes Winner!

• Failure becomes Success!

• Unloved becomes Cherished!

• Neglected becomes Nurtured!

• Afraid becomes Brave!

• Defeated becomes Conqueror!

• Depressed becomes Comforted!

• Broken becomes Whole!

• Ashamed becomes Joyful!

Do not let Satan’s lies stick to you like that piece of masking tape on the beautiful jacket. Let Jesus pull off that old label and throw it away! You are not mislabeled. You are a beautiful new creation in Christ!

 

Father, thank you for labeling me as your child, valuable and worthy of your love, mercy and forgiveness. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

 

Reflect

• Have you ever felt like you have no value?

• Why? Could it be because of what happened in your past or how you are living now?

 

Apply

• Journal a column of every label either you or someone else has tried to give you. Leave a blank space beside each one. 

• Now read God’s Word and in the blank spaces write down the labels that God the Creator has given you. Place a huge X over each old label and remind yourself that you belong to the God of the Universe.

 

Power 

• II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

• Galatians 2:20 (NIV) “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

• Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”