We are made in God’s image, and God is community—the Trinity. He is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our culture stresses the opposite of unity or community—we are bombarded with a malady of self-preoccupation. This attitude fights with the way God made us. Because we are made in God’s image, we long to have a dynamic relationship with God and his people.
He gifted (designed) each of us with in a unique way, with a exclusive purpose for us to fulfill. This is our God self, our piece of eternity, our truth value. The way you think and the pattern of your thoughts are distinct and special to you.
As we grow up, we learn other labels or definitions of who we are: right-brained, left-brained, scatter-brained, overachiever, underachiever, nerd, hero, victim, or any other label that seems to fit at the time. That label or definition becomes a part of how we see ourselves a part of how we see ourselves in the world, in life, in relationships.
What label do you believe is the truth about you?
The ability to sort things into categories is necessary for us to function. We use labels like friendly, nice, tasty, deceitful, dangerous, and more to sort things out. This kind of categorization is necessary to understand, differentiate, discern, and function. Unfortunately, labels can also promote mistrust and fear. They can limit our expectations of another’s abilities, cause us to view them as less than they are, or deny their personhood.
When we label people—black, white, rich, poor, smart, slow, fashionable, or fat—we need to recognize that in doing so we may be putting them in a box that constrains them to be blacker, whiter, richer, poorer, smarter, slower, more fashionable, or fatter than they are, simply because of our labels. Labels form a lens through which people see others, and often we are incapable of perceiving others independent of that label. For better or for worse, people are controlled by the reactions of others.
The risk of labeling is that it changes the way we perceive things. Labels bias our perceptions, thinking, and behavior. A label or story can either separate us from, or connect us to, others. It also affects our most important relationship—the one we have with God. It is critically important that we evaluate our labels because their effects are clearly seen in our life stories.
Kathleen S Evenhouse 