Embracing Your Identityনমুনা

Labels

I’ve had many labels in my life--introvert, loyal, responsible oldest child, insecure, not good enough--the list could go on. Unfortunately, over the years I adopted what was said and believed about me, even if in my gut the label didn’t fit or I didn’t like it.

Even in the last six years when I took a difficult journey through the darkest season of my life, I struggled with labels the enemy whispered in my ear. I was broken, unredeemable, useless, and a disappointment to God and the people I cared about.

However, something began to change in me as I worked through the mess and pursued God’s healing in that season. I began to let what God said about me in His Word shatter the enemy’s labels for me. I began to see who I was in Christ and the redeeming power of the cross in my life.

As I did, not only did the recent labels begin to break off, but so did the old ones like rusted chains. I began to let go of the hurtful words and descriptions spoken over me for decades. I began to find my identity.

Perhaps you have labels of your own: parent, hopeless, rejected, spouse, forgotten, employee, unloved. Maybe they too are words people spoke over you or scars that have left their reminder of the wounds. Whatever they may be, their echoes play in your mind like a broken record and they’ve begun to define who you are. In fact, you find yourself living from those places instead of from God’s Word.

One label you can adopt is “child of God.” Today’s verse is a reminder to you that God has lavished His love on you from the moment you were created by Him, through every twist and turn, and as you read this now.

This reading plan is going to help you look past the negative labels and begin to see yourself in a new light. My prayer is that today you’ll begin a journey of finding your true identity in Christ. Truth is, although your past has shaped you, it shouldn’t define you. This definition of who you are belongs to the Creator of the Universe and is left to you to decide who to become.