Be careful what you name yourself; and be careful what you allow others to name you.
Clown.
Dumb blonde.
Bad tempered.
Fundamentalist.
Needy.
Flirt.
People pleaser.
Perfectionist.
The toxic names we are given are as endless as the many negative identities that anyone decides to impose upon us—or that we impose upon ourselves.
But here’s the thing: through the process of sanctification, we are being formed into the image of Christ. He is not a clown or dumb or bad tempered. He is not a fundamentalist, a people pleaser, or a perfectionist. He is love, and He is all of the good things that flow from love.
And if He is truly creating us to be the faces of His love, let’s aim not only to walk in that truth but to speak that truth about ourselves and reject the labels that contradict the work He’s doing in us.
“[T]he Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT).
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Joshua Rogers 
Great point. I sometimes tell my teens not to label each other, or make derisive comments like, “You always… you never…” etc., which are also a form of negative labeling. It seems all too easy in families, yet that is where it’s most impactful.
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You’ve got that right.
On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 6:59 PM, Joshua Rogers wrote:
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