Labels

I like to read labels when I am in the grocery store. It is good to know what is on the inside of a can of soup. Labels can help me stay away from something inside a package that I don't want to put inside my body. Labels can really be helpful and a good thing...BUT I don't like labels when it comes to people.



Why?



Labels on cans of food are dead on accurate because the maker know what is on the inside, but when it comes to people only our "Maker" knows what is on the inside. My walk with God over the past two years has really caused me to take a deeper look inside, it has brought me to a place of introspection. I have realized how judgmental I used to be and in the process I have realized how I have labeled in the past and then made assumptions about what was inside (what was going on in that person's heart). I understand that biblically we are called to "judge people by their fruit" but I think sometimes we aren't judging fruit as much as we are assuming we know more about that person than we do (slap a label on that person from a distance then condemn them to hell). Surface relationships don't allow for knowing where a person is really living inside. One can't judge a book by its cover and I don't want to be a person who will judge a person only by the books they read. I guess I am writing this because our society tends to use labels for people, and I see this in Christian circles too. I am writing this because it is really on my heart that I don't want to label someone without knowing what is on the inside. Jesus said that some saying "Lord Lord" wouldn't make it to heaven which means that there were people who were labeled as followers by human standards, but were not accurately labeled. He knows hearts and can see through feeble human attempts to label others. I just know that God has brought me to a good place a place of wonder and awe for his unfailing love and his incredible justice. He has brought me to a place of reverence for who He is, and a place where more than ever I want to know Him and his heart. The world can label me however they want but my Maker knows what is on the inside and I keep working on my heart to be more like His.