The Labels God Gives Us

Written by Madeleine Grace Scholefield, Australia

In Year 12, my year group voted on a label for every student to be given out as ‘awards’ after our formal.

I remember my nerves that night as we stood around the campfire at the after-party, waiting to find out what label we’d been given. 

There were the classics, like ‘Most Likely to Succeed’ and ‘Most Likely to End up in Prison’. Some were silly, and others, hurtful. Biggest Drama Queen. Always Late. Most Likely to be Homeless. Party Animal. Weirdest Laugh. Biggest Blonde. 

The fire crackled and the laughter grew. My heart pounded. What label would I be given? Teacher’s Pet? Know-It-All? Most Likely to Die Alone? 

“And to Maddy…” our Year’s captain called, “...Most Athletic Girl.”

I stepped forward and felt the relief rushing through me. But others in my year group weren’t so lucky, and I could see the hurt in their eyes as they tried to laugh their labels off. 

We’ve all been labelled with something in our lives. Maybe it’s a good label, like hard-worker or kind. But maybe, it’s another kind of label: Overthinker. Worrier. Anxious. Depressed.

Sound familiar?

In Season 2 of the podcast, we’ve been hearing from people who’ve been given labels of mental illness. And, through those conversations, we’ve heard how a key part of living beyond those labels is to find out what labels God has given us. When we define our identity by who He says we are, we’re better able to walk in the freedom of being intimately known and deeply loved. 

So today, let’s take a look at some of the labels God has given us.

His Children

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

1 John 3:1

Loved 

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” 

1 John 4:16

Forgiven 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9

Created in His Image 

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Genesis 1:27

Liberated 

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Galatians 5:1

Members of God’s Family

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household…”

Ephesians 2:19

Redeemed 

“...Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” 

Isaiah 43:1

Forever Known

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” 

Jeremiah 1:5

A Chosen People 

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9

God’s Handiwork

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ephesians 2:10

Righteous 

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

The Bible is filled with verses about who we are in Christ, but it can be easy to forget these when the labels the world has given us ring in our ears.

 So how can we remind ourselves of our true labels?

Why don’t you pick one of these labels to focus on this week? Perhaps you can write it on a sticky-note by your mirror or desk, or you can click on the images below to download one of the free lock screens we’ve created for you.

When you see it, it’s a reminder that no matter what labels the world has placed on us, we can cling to the labels that God has given us. 

His labels are always true… And never hurtful.

Madeleine Grace Scholefield

Madeleine grew up as a third-culture kid on the missions field, who now uses her writing as a way to make sense of the world and to point people to the story of hope and grace found in Jesus. Madeleine serves full time with Our Daily Bread and currently lives in Adelaide with her husband, Matt.