By: Denny-

It was just an ordinary jar to me that recently contained jam. Now empty, it was sitting on the countertop next to the sink. I rinsed it out and was about to put it in the recycle waste basket when my wife stopped me. I guess it was unique because she said she wanted to save it, but could I first remove the label. No problem, I thought, until I tried peeling it off. As I lifted one corner edge and pulled it the paper ripped in a small piece. I repeated the process and got the same result. Not to be outwitted I decided to soak it in hot water for a few minutes. The label came off with a slight rubbing alright, but the adhesive was still stuck to the jar. This would call for a more drastic solution in the form of using a solvent of some kind such as Goo Gone.

Unlike the jar, the labels people carry are much harder to remove and can last for years or a lifetime. Somebody labeled you with their words and we also label ourselves as well as others. A classic example is found in Genesis 35:18. Jacob’s wife Rachel was about to give birth, but there were complications. She gave birth to a son whom with her last breath she named him Ben-Oni, which means ‘son of my sorrow’. Jacob immediately said, “No, his name is Benjamin”, which means ‘son of my right hand’. Had he not intervened his son would have been stuck with the sorrowful label his entire life. If you had leprosy in Bible times you were labeled an outcast. Those with leprosy lived in communities separated and apart from the rest of society and were avoided. I find it interesting that Matthew 26:6 says, And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. Was Simon still a leper, or had Jesus previously healed him? Perhaps Simon had been labeled ‘the leper’ for so long that leper became his identifying label even after being healed. In the same manner when Jesus began teaching in his hometown of Nazareth many were offended because they had always labeled him as ‘the carpenter’ or ‘the carpenter’s son’. That label, combined with their unbelief, prevented Jesus from doing mighty works of miracles there. The self-righteous religious Pharisees loved to label people as ‘sinners’, but Jesus turned it back on them calling them hypocrites which caused them to hate him even more. Saul, before his conversion and becoming the apostle Paul, was notoriously feared by believers. He sought to capture, imprison, persecute, and have Christians put to death. That was his label and the reason so many had a hard time believing he had experienced a true conversion to Christ.

Yet isn’t that what we do all the time. We form an opinion about someone and that becomes the label we stick on them. Often it is based on their actions, their appearance, or words they have spoken. As the Bible says we judge (label) by outward things, but the Lord looks at the heart. May we all be more mindful of the labels that we stick on others and ourselves, because none of us are perfect. Let us make every effort to see ourselves and others as Jesus does. When people come to Christ and He changes them, we often are reluctant to accept it and still see them as bearing the old label of their past sinful lifestyle. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things (including labels) have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Jesus not only removes the old label, but his very blood that He shed for you is the Goo Gone solvent, so to speak, that even removes the adhesive that held that label to you. Sin no longer has a hold on you and is a label that can’t stick. When you ask Christ to save you, and you repent of your sins, He makes you brand new and fills you with His righteousness. He creates a new label saying, ‘Forgiven and Redeemed Child of God”.  No artificial sweeteners or preservatives added, just the pure fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

 I wanted to toss the jar away, but my wife saw something valuable in it even when it had the old label attached. Jesus sees you the same way. Come to Him just as you are and allow Him to empty out the old things, fill you with the new, and apply His new label that sticks forever.