What label are you wearing?

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking at the Girls Only retreat at Heartland Conference Center in Ohio. What an incredible retreat with girls from all over Ohio. Through some recent events in my life, God had laid a message on my heart about labels that we wear. Labels we have put on us or that others have put on us. Those labels have then defines us in what we do and don't do. The labels impact our faith, our dreams and hopes and how we view others. These labels can become destructive in our lives.


I asked all of the girls to write on a piece of paper a label (negative) that they felt they were carrying. I asked the girls to be honest and they were. I collected the labels and had one of my dear friends Liz come to the front. I began reading the labels out loud and put them on Liz. They were words such as slut, unworthy, ugly, not good enough, failure, a mistake, repulsive, prude, sinful, etc. As I put these words all over Liz, on her arms, legs, tummy, back, and shoulders - not only could I feel Liz as she was shaking at the impact of the words but a holy anger at the enemy and the world for pushing these teenage girls down into something they were not. The visual impact of Liz wearing all of those labels was very real because quiet honestly we all wear more than one label.


Changing the way we think about ourselves will allow us to see ourselves the way God sees us.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

This world is constantly telling us what and who to be…but God says take on my standard for you life – then it will be good and PERFECT!

When you are you – you are PERFECT!

Your smile is perfect – even if it is a little bit crooked.

Your hair is perfect – even if it is a little bit frizzy or too straight

Your personality is perfect – even if not everyone gets your humor

Your love is perfect – because it is a reflections of God’s love

I ended the retreat with talking off all of the labels on Liz. I replaced it with one label. A powerful label. A label of truth.  A label of change. 

MY BELOVED

That is how God views us. He calls us HIS and he calls us BELOVED.

That is the truth we need to hold on to. That is the truth we need to live by.

If you were created with a compassionate heart – live compassionately.

If you were created with joy – share it to everyone

If you were created with a heart of mercy – show kindness to those around you

If you were created with the brains – help others to understand

If you were created with beauty – make others worlds beautiful

Be bold in who you are in Christ.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Tim 1:7

Whatever label you are wearing today that is not from God, I encourage you to give it to God. It may have been with you a long time, it may be part of who you are - but it is not true! Be bold and trust that not only can God remove that label but he can transform your life with his power and his truth.

We are HIS BELOVED - life freely in that truth!