Labels that Kill the Soul....

I know... that picture is creepy. Truth be told I was experimenting to see if I could replicate a design element and this is what I came up with. I puffed up the eyes and the lips and then decided to go ahead and make a huge head. After that I made some weird graffiti hair and pulled some art elements into it. Because it looked like a poor dead soul, thought I'd pull in a few words and make it mean something. And THAT is how art is made! What's more... I kind of like it in a creepy wouldn't hang it on my wall sort of way! So this becomes the inspiration for today's blog because my subject is creepy too: Labels that Kill the Soul!

You have heard the saying "sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me". Of course we all know that there's not a lick of truth in it. Not only don't sticks and stones break our bones but words hurt us all the time! What's even worse are the labels that are never really uttered out loud. Unspoken labels can be so subtle that they prove to be deadly because we can't put a finger on them and name them. Sometimes we wonder if they are real or just our imagination. Unfortunately even if our minds miss the "insult" our souls usually pick up on it.

A combination of reasons are behind the labeling issue. Things like jealousy, immaturity, small -mindedness, being different. family roles, etc. Whatever the reason, it's destructive for all of us. To label someone is to judge them and stick them in a box. It hurts and it keeps people from being all that were created to be. Labels that stick are often generated very early in our years and have no bearing on the present.

Here is a short list of common negative labels. 

        Needs Improvement

        Ridiculous

        Silly

        Makes poor decisions

        Impulsive

        Rigid

        Self-indulgent

        Cry-baby

        Never will amount to anything

        Stupid

        Fat

        Not good enough

        Clumsy

        etc.

If you feel trapped under someone's judgement of you it's important first to evaluate where that feeling comes from. Understanding is the first defense. Next the healing needs to penetrate into your spirit so that you no longer care what anyone else says about you.

There is a children's story book called "You Are Special" by Max Lucado that we used to read to our kids when they were young. The upshot of the story was that people will label you consistently either with good labels or bad, stars for good, spots for bad. Those with stars became very popular and proud while those with dots were given more dots. Then one day a dotted puppet met someone who had no labels. He asked her what her secret was. She went to the puppet maker daily to find out how much he loved her and soon the spots and stars didn't stick. Watch and let the message of the story sink into you today. 

I'm enclosing the book first - it's 8 minutes long. After is the movie version - it's 29 minutes long and great for your kids. You choose what you'd like to watch and when. Grab a cup of tea, make yourself comfortable and let the message start to heal your soul.