Labels

What kind of labels are we putting on ourselves?

    I just signed up to participate in the Terry Fox Run this September. Not sure if I will be running it or walking it. I know that if people are running, Blessing will want to run too. So part of me wants to train to run it. I was a runner on and off for years with a love/hate relationship with it. I don't want to run, even though I feel good in the process, and I like the label/title of being a runner. As I'm laying in bed thinking about wanting the label of a runner and yet don't want to put my runners on. It got me thinking about the other labels I either willingly hold or that life/society has put on me.

    My most important label is "Child of God." Of course, calling my relationship with my Lord and Savior a label sounds very religious, and I do not like that word. Whenever someone from the community asks me if I am religious, I use to say yes. Simply because it was easier than explaining that it's a faith and not a religion. And how religion is about actions and rituals and faith is about a relationship. Then I decided that was too much to explain in passing small talk with unbelievers. I figured they don't understand anyway, so why try and explain it? Then it dawned on me that if I don't explain the difference between the religion of Christianity and my relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then who will? So now I am more intentional about explaining the difference.

    I'm now sitting in my living room in my late grandfather's rocking chair. I'm thinking about my other "labels" like, "wife," "dog mom," "employee," etc. The things I was thinking about before I got my journal out and started letting my pen do the talking. To be honest, "Child of God" was not the first thing that came to mind. I think "wife" was. But, then I corrected myself and reminded myself that the most important one is "Child of God" and needs to be number one.

    Then, when I finished my last thought train on religion vs. faith/relationship and started thinking about what my second most important label/title is. I realized that none of them mattered. In the light of eternity, none of them matter. Yes, I love holding and carrying out these labels/titles, but they don't matter. The only thing that these labels tell society is what's important to you and how to categorize you. Now, I'm all for categorizing and organizing things, but at the end of the day, the only label that matters is that I am a child of the One True God. And when I am faithful to let the Holy Spirit work through me and silence the voice of my sinful nature, the rest simply flows out of me. Because when you put God first in your life, everything else falls into place.

    God doesn't care about the other labels that we put on ourselves or what society puts on us. Because the truth of the matter is that as humans, we give ourselves all these titles/labels to make ourselves look and feel important in the eyes of the world. The more labels, the more important we feel. At the end of the day, those labels won't save you. Only a relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will do that.

    Now, I'm not saying labels aren't fun to hold. I love and am proud of the few that I hold. But, on the day that Christ returns and brings me home, "Child of God" will be the only label that matters. But we need to make sure it's not simply a religious label, but an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.

    Funny, when I started thinking about labels and what this journal entry would look like, this was not it. It was going to be a  list of the labels I hold closest to my heart and explain each of them. Holy Spirit had other ideas and wanted to remind me, and I assume you too, friend of, the importance of our only label that matters in the light of eternity and God's eyes. Child of God.

    I pray that this post finds you well on this Labour Day long weekend and blesses you in whatever way you need today.

God Bless

~Hannah