Ever since I can remember I have placed labels on myself. Very often others also label us, we allow them to use words to describe us, and begin to use those same words. As an elementary student I was labelled as shy, quiet, bookworm, nerd, smart. As a middle schooler pretty much the same, somewhere between middle school and high school I began to add my own labels and to believe some of the others. Introvert. Bookworm. Techie. Art Kid. YFCer. Quiet. Alone. Independent. Christian. Middle Child. In college and after the labels continued. Theatre Kid. Youth Min Major. Bookworm. Technician. College Student. AmeriCorps Member. Volunteer. Introvert.

Now most of these words seem harmless, they simple described my personality, my job, my hobbies. They described who I was, but at some point I let it begin to not describe who I was but to define who I was. I allowed the words I used as labels to define the person I was and the person I was turning into. I let words such as Introvert to define my life, I used it as an excuse ‘I’m an introvert! I will never be able to speak in public!’ a common response to my quirks came easily ‘I’m a theatre kid!’ ‘I’m a youth min major!’ I used these labels as a way of defining my actions, I allowed them to shape me and to prevent me from stepping out of my box.

Than something happened. I graduated college. I finished two terms of service with AmeriCorps. I struggled/struggle to find my career path, I took a break from theatre, I stopped creating art. And with all that I lost almost everything I defined myself as. Stripped away without all those labels the only two I had left were Introvert. Christian.

And for a while I used them hand in hand, I’m a Christian but because of my introverted side I can’t speak up, I can’t pray in front of people, I can’t lead a small group, I can’t make new friends,

These words I allowed to become my definition now held me back, from things I wanted to be able to do. From things God wants me to be able to be a part of. From spreading who God is and the love He has.

Well I am sick of it. I am done. I don’t have any labels left. I am no longer a student, I am no longer college-aged, I am no longer in theatre. I am done with attempt to find new labels to define myself, the things I do, the activities I partake in do not define the person I am or the person that I will become. They are simply things I do, not the person I will become.

The only one that can define who I am erases all the labels the world may create, and although the labels I listed are not harsh, they don’t hurt like some do, but there are definitions I chose to leave out. Ugly. Unloveable. Rude. Alone. Stupid. Fat. The list goes on, I chose not to focus on the hurtful words, the negative words that have all gone through our mind or have been aimed at us. No matter what words you use to define yourself, no matter what words others use to define you, none of them matter. Not one.

God has declared each of us

A child of God.

A friend of God.

Fearfully and wonderfully made.

A spirit of power, love and self-control.

Chosen.

Redeemed.

You are a child of God. How God sees you is the only way the matters. You are a clean slate. God sees you as chosen, as redeemed. Believe in the words that God has used to define you, not the words that peers place on you and not the words or titles that you place on yourself to define you. The words of the world are not who you are, they do not define you or who you will become, as well as words from your past, they have been wiped clean. You are a new creation. Fearfully and wonderfully made!

-Elle

“I am the head and not the tail. I am above and not below. I will find favor with man and God. I was created in the image of God to do good things and to love people.”