A New Label

Today I was thinking about labels. Shirt labels aren't permanent. You can cut them out if they're itchy. You can scratch out the words if you don't like the size or maker. You can even put a new label in to make it new.

I was thinking about shirt labels today because today I was faced with my own label.

I checked in at the doctor's office for a routine checkup today. I stated my name and the receptionist pulled my chart. As she opened it, there it was; a label. The top of my chart clearly stated, "eating disorder." I've talked about eating disorders, read books about them, and contemplated them extensively over the past few years. This was not a word that I've removed from my vocabulary.

As I kept reading and rereading those words in my chart, I felt so many emotions. But the longer I stood there the happier I became. I realized that my shock and disbelief at reading those words was because I didn't label myself that way anymore. An eating disorder no longer defines who I am. Feeling that label placed on me again felt foreign because that label has been removed from my life.

A smile came over my face. It was an exciting moment for me. It wasn't just words coming from my mouth, but a feeling in my heart that I no longer viewed myself as the eating disorder that once enslaved me.

I left the doctor's office with a thankful, joyful heart. God removed the tag of my life that said eating disorder. He crossed it out with black sharpie and changed the label to say, "Mine." He took His label and permanently attached it to me, so that no one and nothing can ever remove it.

Whenever I lose my way or make a mistake, I know that I can simply look at my new label. I am HIS.

Does the label of your life say that you are "His"? If it doesn't, God loves to change labels.