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You Are Not Your Labels
You Are Not Your Labels
We tend to find our identity in labels. For example, the label “nerd” applies quite nicely to me. I like video games, obscure Star Wars quotes (“He’s no good to me dead!” – name the reference), and all the latest tech gadgets. The label “creative” also fits me pretty well. I love bringing new ideas to fruition and coming up with new ways to approach old problems. I’m also book junkie, a sports lover, and a coffee snob. I’ve got no problem with these labels. They represent part of who I am. And you probably have a number of labels plastered on your forehead as well. Gearhead, gamer, jock, outdoorsman, redneck, political junkie, etc. For the most part these labels are neutral.
But all of us have also adopted labels which are not so good. “My grandpa was an angry man, my dad was an angry man, and I’m an angry man.” Or, “I’ve always struggled with body image issues. It’s just who I am.” Or, “I’ve always wrestled with same sex attraction. It’s just a part of me.” Or, “My mom treated me like trash. My husband has treated me like trash. Therefore, I must be trash.” Or, “I’ve just always been a worrier. I can’t help who I am.”
We assume that what has been always will be. We willingly adopt the labels that come with the struggles: angry, anorexic, loser, trash, failure, addict.
When we believe the labels we more quickly give in to temptation. “I’ve always been a slave to alcohol. It’s just who I am. I might as well keep giving in to it.” Or, “I’ve always been impatient. I can’t help it. I’m always going to be this way so I might as well learn to live with it.”
But the solid, firm, biblical reality is that we are not our labels.
In Galatians 2:20 Paul said: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” When Paul said, he had been crucified with Christ he meant that his old, sinfully enslaved, wicked self had been killed. It was crucified with Christ and it died. When Paul’s old self died, all the labels that went along with his old self also died. Paul was a violent man, but the “violent” label was nailed to the cross. Paul was a self-righteous fool, but the “self-righteous” label was pinned to the cross as well.
For Paul, there was only one label that mattered: Christ lives in me. That reality defined who he was. The old, “labeled” Paul had been crucified with Christ. The new Paul had only one label: “Christ In Me”.
The same is true for us. Our old self was crucified with Christ and now Christ himself lives in us. We are not ultimately defined by our struggles we are defined by our union with Jesus Christ. Our old self, with all its labels is dead and buried. Those old labels don’t apply to us anymore. We may still struggle with the same temptations, but we must not let those old labels define us any longer.
We are in Christ and Christ is in us. Period. That is our identity. All the old labels can go to Hell (I mean that literally).
There will be times when it feels like we will never change. Like we will always be angry, have an eating disorder, give in to lust, worry, or be greedy. But God’s reality must always trump our perceived reality. We will not always be the same. Why? Because Christ lives in us. When Christ lives in us the old labels no longer apply.
Every day we must live in light of who we truly are. When we are tempted to be angry we must remember, Anger belongs to the old me. When we are tempted to lust, we must remember that lust belongs to our old self. When we are tempted to worry, we must remember that our old, worrying self was crucified with Christ.
We are not our labels. We are Christ’s.
-- Stephen Altrogge
