Labels

For people who have allergies labels are important.  You can’t just trust a picture on the outside of a package, you have to dig a little deeper or run the risk of exposing those who are susceptible to something that may harm them. Labels are key to those who are trying to lose weight, for the record I’m not one to give advice on losing weight, but my Co-Host on the Get-Up & Go Show, Todd Gale, he is always looking at ingredients on the package to see what’s really on the inside.

I wish we looked at labels on food with the same intrigue that we look at people. How many times do we look at someone and think we know them, or how they are going to behave because of the colour of their skin or even their occupation.  Ask a parent who chooses to stay at home and look after their children about the labels they’ve been given (lazy, unmotivated to name a few). Ask someone of a different cultural background how many times they’ve been asked what country they came from? (They couldn’t possibly be born here in Canada, right?)

As a youth pastor for 6 years in Ajax I learned about resume names, parents having to abandoned names from their heritage so their children will have a better chance at getting an interview when their resume is reviewed. I was dumb founded to discover how deep I was into my own cultural bubble, people were being written off because of a name on a piece of paper. 

I’m a bit of a people watcher, I love trying to figure out what makes people tick on the inside. In my first year of Bible College I took a lot of psychology courses so I could understand others and why we do what we do (and by no means do I have any kind of authority is this area).   I discovered how not only genealogy, but current and past environments can play apart in our behaviour.  It is callous to label someone because we think know who they are and how they will behave because of a look on their face.   I wonder how many Christians have lost opportunities because false testimony we’ve given about someone, we just took at look at the outside package and assumed knew who they are.

When anointing David the new King, God reminds us in 1 Samuel 16:7 that He doesn’t operate in this way. “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by a man’s face or height, for this is not the one. I don’t make decisions the way you do! Men judge by outward appearance, but I look at a man’s thoughts and intentions.”

I know how hard it can be if you feel that you’ve been labeled unjustly and lost out on opportunities that you really thought you should’ve had.  I want you to understand that when it’s your time God will anoint you and no one will be able to hinder what God has planned.  However, until that time comes blossom where you’re planted and don’t allow a bitter root to grab hold of you (Hebrews 12:15).  If you can honestly evaluate yourself and ask the Holy Spirit if you have been guilty of falsely labeling someone and ask God to help guard your tongue. Let’s look beyond the outside of the package.