LABELS

Act 9:13-14

Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

Just like the believers in the book of Acts, we have a tendency to place a label on others. We sometime go as far as to remind God what kind of an individual He is dealing with just like Ananias, as if we know more than God. 

We label people based on their past and what we have heard about them. Even after an individual has given their life to Christ, we still hold their past against them and many times we are watching with a close eye waiting for them to make a mistake so that we can justify the label we have placed over them. We do that so that we can feel good about ourselves thinking we are better but the reality is that we all have a past.

Paul was known for the nasty things he did to the believers, dragging them from their homes and having those who resisted killed all in the name of serving God. Now that he was born again, how was he supposed to fit in the family yet the people already had labeled him as an enemy of the faith? How was he to change their perception of him? What was he to do to make them believe that he was a changed man?

Paul simply forgot about the past that God had already forgiven him about and he focused on where God was taking him and who God was changing him to be. No wonder he was able to write;

Philippians 3:13 -14

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

What have people labeled you? What do they call you? Do you find that as much as you are trying to move on in the things that God is calling you, your past is always brought before you? Do they still call you a thief or a loose woman, or a womanizer? Do not allow those labels to stick on you and deter you from fulfilling your God ordained purpose.

The thing about a label is that it is always found on the outside. It does not determine the contents of the package. When a product is manufactured, it is only the manufacturer who has the authority to label the product he has created. Only God therefore has the authority to label you. No wonder David said

Psalms 139:14

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

There are 2 kinds of labels, one that is stuck on the product and another that is printed or engraved on the product. Peel off the different labels that others have stuck on you and as you endeavor and continue to pursue God, expose the label that the Lord has engraved on you. Just like Saul, though people may talk about you, forget those things that are behind you and become Paul to fulfill the purpose that God has for you. His label over you says that you are more than a conqueror; His label over you says that you can do all things through Christ who give you strength. He has called you the righteousness of God.

That is what you are so focus on that and move on and don’t focus on any other label that others may put on you!

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Peel off and burn all the labels that others have put on you believe the label that God has put on you and like Paul move on to do great things in His name!