Label Maker

What our series "Identity" is all about 

We were all created as a “self,” the person God made us to be.  But eventually something comes along that we are ashamed of (our weight, our family, our choices, etc.) and that “shame” covers our “self.”  Then, we create a “personality,” a version of ourselves that we want others to see which covers our “shame.”

But what happens to the person God made us to be?  What’s our identity?

Label Maker

Who has the right to put a label on something?  Well, a few people do; the owner, the manufacturer, and the purchaser.  So, who has a right to put a label on us?  The answer is the same, the One who owns us, made us, and purchased us.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (NLT)

This Weeks Point: You are not defined by the labels that people give you, or by the ones you give yourself, but by the person that God made you to be 

At Home Suggestions

Talk with your teens about some of the labels that they feel they wear, and tell them about the labels you wore when you were their age.

Read Acts 4:13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus. (HCSB)

Ask: How did the religious leaders label Peter and John?  What did they notice about them that made the biggest difference?

Explain that they labeled them as “dumb.”  The Greek word for “uneducated” is idiotes, the word from which we get our English word “idiot.”  They thought they were idiots.  But here they were, amazing them with teaching.  Why?  Because they had been with Jesus!  The label of “Jesus follower” made all the difference in their lives.

  

Pray that each member of your family would define themselves by the person God made them to be through their relationship with Christ.