“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
Isaiah 43:18 NIV

Have you ever given yourself a label?

We do this all the time, don’t we? There are tendencies, quirks, or personality traits we just know to be habitual in our lives. So, we see ourselves in light of those labels and we giggle about it with our friends. Sometimes we even print these labels on t-shirts and mugs so we can literally wear them and carry them around.  

Here are some of my favorites. I wonder if you’ve seen them too:

“I’m sorry I’m late…It’s because of who I am as a person.” (I want to be friends with whoever first coined that. I feel so understood.)

 “World’s okayest co-worker.”

“Hold on. Let me overthink this.”

These are fun and lighthearted. We can laugh and poke fun because of shared quirks, but there’s something that consistently comes to my mind whenever I think about labels. And I’m not talking about the silly, lighthearted labels on our coffee mugs. I’m talking about the labels we put on ourselves that have to do with our downfalls, our sins, and our weaknesses.

Labels like…

I’m prideful.

I tend to be arrogant.

I love control too much.

I struggle with gluttony.

I’m full of fear.

And the list can go on and on.

I wonder sometimes if we spiritually act like the sins we struggle with are going to be imprinted on a t-shirt we will have to wear forever.

And we’d never say that. But if we’re not paying attention, we start to act like it’s true! We assume that if we struggle with pride, we’ll always struggle with pride. I don’t believe that’s how God operates.

The section of Isaiah we’ve been meditating on, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past,” is a sweet reminder to you and to me that Jesus redeems. Read the entire chapter of Isaiah 43, and you’ll be reminded that we serve a God who does not leave us as He finds us.

Friends, when you surrender your life to Jesus, you are not who you once were. 

The Holy Spirit is at work in you! And when He convicts you of sin in your life, it’s not so you can bust out the label maker. It’s so He can be given access to that part of your life—to redeem it. He is actively making you more and more like Jesus.  

So, what does that look like for you today? For me, I’m not going to assume that the sin I’m struggling with is a forever coffee mug in my cabinet. Nope! I’m ready to give God access to that space so He can actively restore labels like we read about in Isaiah 43. His character shows up big-time with labels for Israel like:

Created (Isaiah 43:1)

Formed (Isaiah 43:1)

Redeemed (Isaiah 43:1)

Summoned by name (Isaiah 43:1)

Precious (Isaiah 43:4)

Honored (Isaiah 43:4)

Loved (Isaiah 43:4)

I’d rather wear those labels.

Wouldn’t you?

— Emily Heaton