My middle and high school experiences were simultaneously awesome and horrible. Some of my best memories and worst nightmares happened between grades 6-12. This week I’m offering up some advice on how to thrive, or if that’s a little too strong, survive school this year.
WHO AM I?
The most important question a person can answer is simply this, “Who am I?” Every person wrestles with this question and must constantly define and redefine the answer. What makes you, you? What gives you value and worth? Are you the smart one? The athletic one? The beautiful one? The depressed one? The gamer one? The angry one? The quiet one? The funny one? What is it that makes you special and unique?
Most of us also struggle because we’ve been labeled. Once the people around you label you, it’s hard to break out. Whether it’s true or not, people begin to think of you as your label. At different times in my life, I’ve been labeled as “angry guy,” “spiritual guy,” “dates too much guy” and “funny guy.” I found each of these labels constricting and binding. At times, I didn’t know how to break out and get back to being “just me guy.” Sometimes labels even take on prophetic properties and define our futures.
LABELS
Recently, my friend Jon VerLee gave an amazing talk about labels at our summer camp. One of the things he said really grabbed my attention. He said that in the business world, the only people who are allowed to label a product are the people who made the product. If I create a computer, you have no right to give it a name and a logo. That’s my right and privilege because I made it. Only the maker has the right to label.
Maybe it’s the same way with people. I believe that God created me. He formed me and gave me my personality and talents. He gave me my lanky, semi-athletic body, my brown eyes and goofy laugh. My sense of humor, propensity to dream big and tendency to talk before listening were His ideas.
According to what I read in the Bible, God is happy with how He made me and I’m exactly how He wanted me to be. He has labeled me as His. I belong to Him. I am His adopted Son and treasured possession. He has the right to label me because He made me.
And here’s the thing, you don’t have the right to label me because you didn’t make me. And, I don’t have the right to label you because I didn’t make you. We are equal as creatures and shouldn’t label each other.
BAD IDENTITY
Most of the big mistakes in my life have been made because I forgot who I am. The times when I got off-track and said and did things that I deeply regret were times that I forgot who I am in Jesus. I was listening to and living out the labels that other people gave me. I was living out of the wrong identity.
My advice to you, as you go off to school is this: don’t forget who you are. You aren’t who people say you are and you aren’t what you are good or bad at. Being beautiful, average, smart, dumb, athletic, slow, big, small, funny, boring doesn’t make you who you are. No one has the right to label you except your creator and He has already said that you are loved. He made you exactly how He intended and He’s very proud of His creation. Live out of this identity and experience life the way it was meant to be lived.
