Contents: Made in Thailand; 57% polyester, 43% acrylic
Care Instructions: Machine wash cold with like colors; Gentle cycle; Only non-chlorine bleach if needed; Cool iron on the reverse side
We find labels on food, clothing, books, and numerous other products. They help us understand ingredients, uses, and care. Some labels also warn. Labels are helpful. But they are never complete. Goodness knows that the world's lawyers have tried to cover every base with labels. That's why coffee warning labels say, "Caution: contents hot" for coffee takeout and "Risk of suffocation" for product packaging. It's impossible for labels to describe every eventuality.
How much more impossible is it for a label to quantify a human being? But this futility does not stop us from trying. All labels have purposes. Some are good; others are harmful.
Useful Purposes
Labels inform and warn. I regularly consult labels because they tell me what's inside and how products should be used. By them, I can objectively compare different products. I also use them to categorize. My craft closet has labeled drawers which are all neatly organized and stored by item. (At least, that's the theory. I confess it might be a reality only one day per year.)
Labels on people can also be somewhat helpful. Your job title, a type of label, helps others understand your work skills. A medical label helps a doctor treat your symptoms. A disability label may qualify you for needed services.
Destructive Purposes
There's another more harmful purpose for labels. They are used to pigeonhole, to categorize complex individuals according to a single word or small group of characteristics. For example, educators sometimes label students to determine teachability and probable outcomes. On a larger scale, history shows how labels have given license to the horrors of slavery and genocide.
Human beings were not designed to be understood by worldly labels or categories. Though we have similarities, God has uniquely created us and placed eternity in our hearts. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We cannot possibly categorize the eternity inside by limited labels. Humans simultaneously desire and reject labels.
I know a young lady who leads with her labels. "I have ADHD, depression, anxiety, and PTSD," she declares to anyone who will listen. I suspect she longs to be understood for who she really is on the inside. She knows her exterior doesn't necessarily reflect these diagnoses and the angst she sometimes feels. My young friend is not alone. Everyone seems to want labels—the more, the merrier. They sometimes feel comforting, like a cozy sweater. They go before you and announce needs that are sometimes difficult to explain. They distill complicated features into a single point. On the other hand, I have a daughter with disabilities. She, too, has a list of labels used to identify her conditions. Most people assume they know all about her by the designation of Down syndrome. But each may have a different definition of that condition. Most are woefully inaccurate. Those with a disability label long to be understood as unique individuals beyond the narrow confines of labels.
All have experienced the push and pull of labels. Your labels differ, and they may evolve over time. We often embrace them while simultaneously resisting them. Initially comforting, human labels ultimately fail. Is there a way to accurately label humans?
The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. "People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7b NLT).
Two Truths about Labeling
First, outward appearance is unreliable for labeling. Humans make hasty judgments based on the first thing we see—outward appearance. God tells us this method of sizing up an individual is inaccurate and insufficient. Boiling down an individual to mere externals devalues.
Second, only God is equipped to label. As Creator of every person, He knows the intimate heart details that we may not even perceive or understand, yet He loves us unconditionally (Ephesians 1:4). Fortunately, God does not withhold His wisdom about these inner details from us. He makes it readily available in His word.
The first couple chapters in the book of Ephesians highlight many labels God says are true about us. There are also essential contrasts between our identity with and without a saving relationship with Christ.
Your Labels Without a Relationship with Christ:
Spiritually dead in sins (2:1)
Deserving of God's anger and judgment (2:3)
Outsider (2:11)
Hopeless (2:12)
If these harsh labels identify you, God calls you to abandon them and accept salvation through His Son, Jesus. A relationship with Jesus Christ transforms your heart from the inside out, identifying you with new life and new labels.
Your Labels Inside Relationship with Christ:
Chosen by God (1:4)
Adopted into God's family (1:5)
Forgiven (1:7)
Secure (1:13)
God's workmanship (2:10)
God's dwelling place (2:22)
This list only scratches the surface of the beauty and truth of God's labels for us. Far more is tucked into the pages of Ephesians, waiting for you to seek and discover. I hope it whets your appetite, encouraging you to search Ephesians and other books of the Bible to discover more about your identity.
What Might Your God-Label Look Like?
Contents: Made by God; Part flesh, part spirit (varies from day to day)
100% new material
100% forgiven
Care Instructions: Soak in unconditional love, apply daily forgiveness, use cool patience to smooth out wrinkles
God's labels help us in relationships. As important as it is to understand our own labels, it is equally critical to accurately pin only God's labels on others. Wouldn't it be nice to walk up to another person and flip them inside out to read a label that informs about the care needs? In fact, internalizing God's truth for ourselves allows us to relate to others properly.
How can we see and use God's labels on others?
1. Believe what God says about you and choose to live it out.
There's always complete truth in God's labeling. The labels tell us how to respect ourselves. They also show us how to rightly see ourselves in relation to God. The Bible gives us commands to follow so we receive the best care possible.
Choose to reject the world's superficial labels and identify only by God-given labels.
2. Recognize that God's labels apply to everyone.
We all crave the best possible care. God's labels apply to everyone, yet each has a unique quality based on His complete and perfect knowledge. None of us are stereotypical. And there are none for whom the truths of the Bible do not apply, even if they choose not to believe in God.
3. Treat others in the way you would like to be treated.
Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12).
While a person's needs can only be fully met in Christ, God wants us to be His hands and feet to those individuals. You know people who have not chosen to begin a relationship with Christ. They desperately need the light of Christ in you to shine into their darkness. You know people who are in Christ but need encouragement to live out their identity.
Whatever the identity, we dare not categorize a "them" and "us." Going back to the human desire to label and know, we cannot turn God's labels into stereotypes. I've learned with my daughter to use "people first" terminology. This simply means to see the individual before the label. For example, instead of calling her a "Downs kid," we would say she's a woman with Down syndrome. It simply means Alyssa would like to be known as a unique person rather than the stereotypes conjured by the Down syndrome label. Likewise, when I'm having a bad moment, or even a whole day when I'm out of sorts, I still want to be labeled as "a child of God who struggles with impatience."
Once we understand the labels worn by others, God urges us to care for them properly.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Friends, God's labels are the only ones that matter. Will you take the time today to imagine God's labels on others? On that needy friend, your broken family member, the unsaved coworker? Will you step in to provide the care God recommends?
Annie Yorty writes and speaks to encourage others to perceive God’s person, presence, provision, and purpose in the unexpected twists and turns of life. Married to her high school sweetheart and living in Pennsylvania, she mothers a teen, two adult children (one with intellectual disabilities), and a furry beast labradoodle. She has written From Ignorance to Bliss: God’s Heart Revealed through Down Syndrome. Please connect with her at http://annieyorty.com/, Facebook, and Instagram.