I love talking about labels because I need people to understand that labels aren’t who they are and I need them to drop those labels . There’s a difference between labels and names. Labels are what people see and think about you and their opinions, while a name is who you truly are and who God says you are.
Today, let’s do some identity detox, shall we?
I need you to drop every label you’ve ever been given, every label you’ve given yourself, and the identity you’ve attached yourself to and defined yourself with due to those labels.
First things first. I love savage quotes that resonate with my spirit. For this piece, let’s go with this quote,
“I’m no longer shrinking to be digestible. You can choke, respectfully.”
I need you to let those words marinate your heart, mind, soul, and spirit. You need to take up this kind of attitude if this detox is to be successful.
You see that anger that rises on the inside of you when you say, “What did you just call me?” I need you to put that anger to good use and make up your mind that you aren’t the labels you’ve been given. I need you to take back the power that you have given away to the people who have labelled you.
There are lies we have believed for so long about the labels we’ve been given that we’ve wrongly allowed them to become our identity. These lies aren’t just powerful but they’re partners with shame too. Shame is like a hurricane, it not only washes away your identity but your self-esteem and self-worth too. When shame and lies invade your life, if you’re not careful, all they’ll leave behind after the hurricane is a shadow of yourself.
Lie number one, what you did is who you are. You’ve lived a lie believing that your mistakes are a total of who you are. You’ve believed this lie for so long that you no longer remember your name or who you are. It’s so sad to the point that this lie has clouded your perception of you that you ain’t willing to allow the voice of truth to speak to and through you.
I need you to get mad. First, at the devil, for dangling this lie at you for so long. Then, get mad at yourself for buying the lie. After you get mad, you must forgive yourself. Then I need you to know the truth. The truth is, we all make mistakes. But mistakes aren’t who we are.
Proverbs 24:16 says that the godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. The goal here isn’t perfection but progression. This isn’t a license to go on a mistake spree, but to give yourself grace when you trip.
Lie number two, you are what was done to you. The majority of us have walked with lifetime labels because of what happened to us and we have believed that it’s who we are. Again, let that seething anger on the inside of you rise again. Don’t repress it, let it show its ugly face. But this time, it will be different, for it’s the last time you’ll see its ugly face.
Once that anger is out of your system, forgive yourself. What happened to you wasn’t fair, wasn’t your fault, and you didn’t ask for it. And the people who hurt you may never apologize for what happened. But I need you to let go of that tight grip that you’re holding on that offense. You’ll need more than just forgiving yourself. You need to be intentional about letting go if you’re going to be completely set free. The truth is you aren’t what was done to you. You are so much more than what happened to you.
These two lies have bound many of us. But Jesus Christ came and died so that we may be free. The blood of Jesus Christ is the best identity detox. It has the power to wash away the stickiness of all the labels you’ve been given and lived by. It has the power to break the chains and restore your name and identity.
Our God is a God of again. You can be free again. You can have a new identity again. You can live again. You can smile again.
The devil will tell you that God can’t use you because you have a past or made mistakes. But the reality is that God using any of us has nothing to do with our human framework and everything to do with His power upon us. I love the people God is using for this generation; the misfits, the weirdos, the ex-convicts, and all the people the world had written off, cancelled, and labelled. I love how God turns our wisdom into foolishness.
I love what Pastor James Preston Morrison once said,
“The blood of Jesus is better than any of your best attempts to end the love of God for you.”
Let’s agree that moving forward, our response to what did you just call me is going to be different. Now, let’s raise our glasses and drink to that smoothie.
Cheers.
