Overcoming Labels
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There is power in words!
Words have the power to:
Create
Heal
Shape
Motivate
Hurt
Wound
Discourage
Destroy
There is the old saying: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Never been a dumber statement. Words can not only hurt, but they can destroy.
The tongue can bring death or life;
those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
The tongue can kill—literally. I heard about a woman in Los Angeles who took her own life. All she wrote in her suicide note was this:
“They said.”
In his suicide note, Vince Foster of the Clinton White House wrote of Washington, “Here ruining people is considered sport.”
“Death [is] . . . in the power of the tongue.”
That is why Jesus said,
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Words do not even have to be intentional to be deadly; they can be careless:
There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Words do not even have to be intentional to be deadly; they can be careless:
Pr
The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
When you hear something over and over it’s hard not to believe it’s true. Words have shaping power.
When you hear something over and over again, it’s hard not to believe that it’s true.
The reality is many of you struggle in the present because of labels we have picked up in the past.
The reality is many of you struggle in the present because of labels we have picked up in the past.
The reality is many of you struggle in the present because of labels we have picked up in the past.
Maybe someone belittled you, said something about you that you internalized and it’s become what you believe.
Example of kid at Walmart in the band
Maybe you’ve owned a label that you’re average, lazy, insecure, hotheaded, overly sensitive, annoying, pathetic, bad at relationships, your too much, my family is dis-functional, family is broken.
There might be some truth to the label you have embraced.
What’s true about you now doesn’t have to be true about you in the future! God’s power and grace is stronger than any label put on you.
If you’ve embraced any kind of label in your life, I want to encourage you to name it something different.
Story of Jacob and Rachel:
Look up where it says about Rachel and Leah’s appearance
Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful.
Wants Rachel, work for it 7 years
Gets Leah, work 7 more years,
14 years he works for his dream girl
Couldn’t conceive
First pregnancy
Second pregnancy
Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.” As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
Examples of names: (creative)
Aarow
Bobo
Miggy
Tergel
Blade
Frooti
Drshti
Messiah
La-a
For girls, the name which saw the biggest surge was Tatjana, with an increase of 1,508%, while Kyd jumped by a whopping 4,141% for the boys.
Here are the top five for both sexes:
Boys
Boys
Kyd, +4141%
Benajah, +2300%
Sulien, +1656%
ulien, +1656%Koa, +322%Gunther, +307%
Koa, +322%
Gunther, +307%
Girls
Girls
Tatjana, +1508%
Alizeh, +748%
Tahiti, +551%
Moana, +467%
Ines, +338%
Ben-Oni: son of sorrow
Benjamin: son of right arm (blessing, strength, authority)
If you don’t like the label you’ve been given, change it
Let your Father in heaven take what your enemy calls you and name it something different.
Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
“What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”
“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”
“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.
“Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
Gen 26
Jacob (Deciever) Israel (my God prevails) Peneul (face of God)
Right hand symbol of blessing, what others called sorrow, God calls it blessing
You don’t get to choose what comes into your life, but you do get to choose what you call it.
God’s power is bigger than your past, what may be true about you now does not have to be true about you in the future.
Ex: labels of past
You will grow into what you name yourself
Abraham becoming father of many nations
You may be labeled:
Insecure-confident in Christ
Lazy-transformed by him, I’m motivated to do what God has for me
Miserable-the joy of the Lord is my strength
Don’t embrace the lie
Your undependable, a cheater, a loser, a failure
No! You are forgiven, transformed, made new, healed by the grace of Jesus, healed, you are loved, and you overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the words of your testimony
This is a really tough season, a bad season. No, I’m being conformed to the image of Christ. I have faith and I’m learning to persevere
I feel so alone, no I’m growing closer to Jesus, He is my strength and everything I need. He is my identity, my comfort
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
satan is out to destroy everything that matters to God. What matters to God? You, matter to God.
satan is out to destroy everything that matters to God. What matters to God?
You, matter to God.