How often in life do we place labels on people we come in contact with? How often do we judge a person on their appearance without even knowing them? How often does that judgement change when make the time to get to know them?
My Bible Study (Therapy) Group is currently doing a study called Alter Ego. It is about rethinking how we label others and how we look at ourselves in the context of the labels we have had placed on us. How do you see yourself and how has that been affected by the labels others have given you?
How often do we remember being told we're ugly, fat, skinny, pretty, weird, etc... How often are those labels given to us by someone else that we then adopt for ourselves? I know that I am guilty of labeling other people, and I know that I am guilty of taking on the labels others have given me.
Whether those labels are good, bad or indifferent, I find myself attempting to live up to them. Isn't that a strange way to look at it? Attempting to live up to a label. I have been told I am a "super mom"...I don't feel that way about myself, but the second I feel like I've done something wrong with my children or haven't done something I am supposed to I feel upset or frustrated that I haven't met that expectation. I've taken on others label of me and tried to live up to it.
I am diagnosed with PTSD and I try to live up to that diagnosis. I use it as my crutch. I am a person living with PTSD though not PTSD itself. I have learn that while PTSD is a diagnosis it is also a label. A label given to those of us living with a disorder that we can overcome. We can seek treatment and get better. We may never be cured, but we can live with our disability.
I have given labels to my own children, and now that I realize this I have to make a concerted effort to change this. They do not deserve to grow up labeled by their own Mother. They deserve to become who God wants them to be. Who He planned for them to be even before they were born.
My new goal in life is to start working on not only my own labels but on not giving those around me labels. Not looking at a person in the store or on the street and assuming I know them based on their appearance. I will start working on giving everyone a chance to show who they truly are. It is not my job to label them, it is my job to accept them.
God has given us the true idea of who we are. He has placed us in our lives for a reason. He has planned our paths for us. We need to choose to follow that plan and start living out our alter ego. We need to start working on becoming more like God and less like our current selves.
Labels are harmful to us and to those around us. Take a moment to truly consider how your labeling someone else may and can affect them. Take a moment to think about how those same labels given to you have affected your life. How they have molded how you see yourself.
Become the person God has planned for you!
My Bible Study (Therapy) Group is currently doing a study called Alter Ego. It is about rethinking how we label others and how we look at ourselves in the context of the labels we have had placed on us. How do you see yourself and how has that been affected by the labels others have given you?
How often do we remember being told we're ugly, fat, skinny, pretty, weird, etc... How often are those labels given to us by someone else that we then adopt for ourselves? I know that I am guilty of labeling other people, and I know that I am guilty of taking on the labels others have given me.
Whether those labels are good, bad or indifferent, I find myself attempting to live up to them. Isn't that a strange way to look at it? Attempting to live up to a label. I have been told I am a "super mom"...I don't feel that way about myself, but the second I feel like I've done something wrong with my children or haven't done something I am supposed to I feel upset or frustrated that I haven't met that expectation. I've taken on others label of me and tried to live up to it.
I am diagnosed with PTSD and I try to live up to that diagnosis. I use it as my crutch. I am a person living with PTSD though not PTSD itself. I have learn that while PTSD is a diagnosis it is also a label. A label given to those of us living with a disorder that we can overcome. We can seek treatment and get better. We may never be cured, but we can live with our disability.
I have given labels to my own children, and now that I realize this I have to make a concerted effort to change this. They do not deserve to grow up labeled by their own Mother. They deserve to become who God wants them to be. Who He planned for them to be even before they were born.
My new goal in life is to start working on not only my own labels but on not giving those around me labels. Not looking at a person in the store or on the street and assuming I know them based on their appearance. I will start working on giving everyone a chance to show who they truly are. It is not my job to label them, it is my job to accept them.
God has given us the true idea of who we are. He has placed us in our lives for a reason. He has planned our paths for us. We need to choose to follow that plan and start living out our alter ego. We need to start working on becoming more like God and less like our current selves.
Labels are harmful to us and to those around us. Take a moment to truly consider how your labeling someone else may and can affect them. Take a moment to think about how those same labels given to you have affected your life. How they have molded how you see yourself.
Become the person God has planned for you!
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