Labels play an important role in our lives. They tell us who we are, our status in society, and what made us tick. But do we believe that the labels we live under are the truth about ourselves. What does God say about labels? The Bible is more than an interesting bit of history. It’s God’s word spoken to us today for today.

Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. ~Romans 15:4 (MSG)

God established categories and labels in creation, and humankind’s wrong choices brought sin into the world—including the way we use labels to stigmatize others. “Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, Romans, Women, Samaritans”—these are just a few of the prominent societal categories in the New Testament. How did Jesus observe society’s divisive labels? Matthew 9:9-13 tells a good example of Jesus’ opinion of society’s labels: Tax collectors, like Matthew, were pariahs in Jewish society—they cooperated with “Roman oppressors” to collect money, and got rich in the process. Yet Jesus ignored the label, and spent time in their company. Jesus even invited Matthew to become His disciple. In response to criticism, he answered: “I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

In case we don’t catch the implicit lessons in so many similar Jesus stories in the gospels, Paul states it explicitly:
May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. (Romans 15:5-7, NLT)

Categories and labels don’t define us; they do not have to put boundaries around us that we cannot cross. On this earth, we are identified or labeled by our name, our marital status, our job, and all the other details of who we are. However, our real identity, our God-given essence, is that we are created by God to be in relationship with Him.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17, NIV)

Through Jesus Christ, we are saved and can rejoin His Kingdom of God on earth and for eternity to come.

Confidence comes from knowing that God loves us unconditionally. See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! (1 John 3:1, NLT)