Skip to main content

What did He Call Me?

            A minister was visiting a lady in the nursing home and, in an effort to make conversation, he asked her about her childhood.  She replied, "My Dad was horrible to us!  All he did was yell at us and tell us how stupid we were!"  When the visit was over, the minister reflected, "After 94 years, she still hears the voice of her father.  After 94 years of success, failure and everything in-between, she is still carrying the hurtful label that she was given when she was six years old.  She was told she was stupid and she never forgot it!"

            Can you relate to that?  People can be mean and the labels and names that they give us can be hard to forget.  In fact, sometimes we hear labels like “lazy, stupid, worthless, useless, weak, weird, failure” (and the list goes on and on) so often that we start to label ourselves that way.  After a while, the weight of those words can be very hard to bear.

            But what if we heard some other words?  What if we had other labels to think about?  What if we listened to how God sees us and what he names us? 

            This is not a comprehensive list, but it will get us started.  God calls us his: Treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6); Sons and daughters (2 Corinthians 6:18); Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10); New creation (2 Corinthians 5:17); Bride (Revelation 19-21); Friends (John 15:15); Chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation and his special possession (1 Peter 2:9).

            What if that was the list that shaped us?  What if those were the names that we called ourselves?  Each of those names and descriptions carries with it a wealth of insight into how special, precious and wonderful each and every one of us really is.  Maybe a better life starts, not by changing a bunch of things, but by changing how we see ourselves.  Maybe we just need to be re-labelled. 

            One of the blessings of the church is that it ought to be a place where you can hear a new name and see yourself in a different way.  It is maybe the one place where you can see yourself accurately and can be reminded that you are “Wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

             We may doubt it at times, but ever forget that God says “You are mine!” (Isaiah 43:1). 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more