LABELS

Dear Elizabeth,

I don't know about you but I have been called many things. Some were good things for instance being called talented, smart, pretty and some fell on the other side of that scale like fat, confused and a people pleaser. Over the years I have come to learn that not every bad thing was true but also realizing that some of those bad things actually were true and the same applied for the good things. I simply had to discover for myself what was and wasn't without denying every negative word spoken to me and accepting every positive applaud.

We have all seen labels on different items and they are indications of what is in the product. Labels tell us what to expect and inform us about the qualities of what can be found within the products; it’s components. The label is carefully placed there by the manufacturer who after putting all that needs to be in the product for it to be made whole, sealed it and put it on display for all to see and for the product to live out those specifications. As I think of these, I imagine one of my favorite things, peanut butter. I have one beside me as I type, a jar of Nutella, which is really not peanut butter but the kitchen felt so far and I had this right here, so before we go into why I have Nutella in my bedroom, let’s look at the label.

The label tells me that there is sugar, skim milk, cocoa among other things. It shows the best way to use the spread and even has an expiration date, imagine if we had one of those, wouldn’t we utilize our days before they ran out same way we use up products before the expiration date…but that too is a letter for another day. I am currently reducing my sugar intake but no matter how hard I scribble out sugar off the label of this jar of Nutella, it still remains full of sugar. I am also increasing my fish intake but even though I wrote with my permanent marker ‘contains fish’, my Nutella would not contain fish. If however the manufacturer decided to eliminate sugar from the product, we would have sugarless Nutella and if again the manufacturer was prompted to add fish to the Nutella, we would have uhm..fishy Nutella perhaps. Regardless, the Manufacturer would be the one who would have not only the final say but the only say that mattered and that was permanent unless altered by the manufacturer.

The same goes for us, no matter how many times your mother says you are a talented singer, it does not make your tune any more harmonious, also if your teacher calls you a slow learner, it does not make your mind’s capacity to learn any slower. Words do hurt and they do motivate depending on how you perceive them but one thing is constant, they only impact us as much as we allow them to and they can never change us unless we conform to them, both the negative and the positive.

Paul, who was a great contributor to the bible by writing the epistles warns us to not conform to the patterns of the world but by the renewing of our minds be transformed so that we can test and prove the good, pleasing and perfect will of God for us. Unlike jars or bottles of product that cannot by themselves be any different unless manufactured different or altered by other people and lack the capacity to resist change, we can choose what can breathe life to us. We can accept that we are indeed lazy and watch TV all day every day or we can prove otherwise and enroll for a class or volunteer at a children's home. We can admit to being rude and work on changing it or rudely reject the observation. We have free will and we need to align it to God’s will.

One of the definitions of will is expressing facts about ability or capacity. In essence, God has put in us His will, an ability and capacity …labels. These labels are found in His word where He calls us precious (Isaiah 43:4),loved (Romans 8:38-39) , able (Philippians 4:13), protected (Psalms 32:7) beautiful (Songs of songs 4:7) and so much more. We just need time to read the fine print and ignore what others have written over or in some cases test against what His word says. Test and prove.

Joseph in the bible was called by his own brothers a liar, Potiphar called him a servant, Potiphar's wife called him immoral, the prison guard called him a prisoner but called had already called him a ruler. He had long before found favor in the eyes of the one who truly matter. What is God calling you that you have let fade out as you pay attention to what the world is calling you? May You be reminded of the truth and be transformed by it.

Ps. This is not a blog, it's my letter to you.

With love, Mary:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqJ4WTfP7eE