Label Makers

We are a society of labelers. We have a label (or name) for everything. I think sometimes we put labels on things and people so that we can better understand them. But often we put labels on things and people so that we can avoid them. Many do it to be hurtful.

It’s that whole, “You say tomato, I say tomahto” thing. But which is right? Are they both? Or is one more correct than the other? One says one thing. Someone else says another. Both think they’re right. So what’s the point?

The point is this: We need to be careful what we say and do because that will eventually catch up with us.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” ~Galatians 6:7-8 (emphasis mine)

I have been labeled many things throughout my life. Some were very hurtful. But those who have labeled me have not really known me. Because of their own opinions, or something they were told by someone else, they gave me a label. Many of them I carried them with me for years.

The night God healed me of all the hurts, intimidation, and oppression in my life, there were a lot of things that happened to me. I have labeled it many things myself, not knowing exactly what to call it. But the fact remains that I was healed, this much I KNOW.

When God healed me though, He not only removed all those things, but the Holy Spirit came rushing in and filled all those places in me that had been causing so much damage before. He removed intimidation, oppression, depression, hurt, anxiety, and the old labels that had been placed on me over the years, and replaced them with more of the Holy Spirit. It was like what happened in Acts chapter 2. Sure, I was a Christian before it happened. Afterward I was still a Christian, but a healed one, a different one, a better one. Not perfect. Just different. I had (and still have) a new outlook, a new lease on life, and a new calling.

Have you been labeled? Are you bogged down with so many that you don’t even know who you are anymore? Let me encourage you to have a face-to-face encounter with God. Throw everything to Him and ask Him to heal you, and let go of the past things that have caused you so much hurt in your life. Let HIM remove your labels and give you the only one that matters: “Child of God.”

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. ~Isaiah 43:1(b) (emphasis mine)

Shelley Wilburn

Shelley Wilburn has been writing since the age of twelve. She loves stories and adventures, and often finds herself getting into mischief with any one of her six grandchildren. She has written several articles and devotionals over the years for various newspapers, women's magazines, and newsletters. She has also co-authored devotionals. Shelley began writing full-time in 2012 after being healed of over 40 years of depression and anxiety. Using her love of writing, and wearing mismatched socks, Shelley has developed a unique ministry of encouraging others using biblical truths and stories from her own personal life. When not writing, you can find Shelley and her husband of over 30 years, D.A. zipping down the road in their newest adventure-maker, a bright orange, Mustang convertible Shelley has laughingly dubbed The Pony.