I'd never thought fighting for my life over the past few months of my breast cancer journey gave me the right to be called brave. I was just doing what I had to do to survive. For me, bravery denotes extreme courage or tenacity like a soldier in the midst of a raging war. Although he's under constant fire and jumping in and out of foxholes, he doesn't give up...he fights on. To me, that's being brave. Or the unwed, single mother who does any and everything she can to make ends meet to provide for her child...that's brave.
The dictionary describes the word brave this way:
brave
brāv/
adjective
1. ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage.
synonyms: courageous, valiant, valorous, intrepid, heroic, lionhearted, bold, fearless, gallant, daring, plucky, audacious.
I certainly didn't feel I fit that description. I hadn't been ready to face cancer or any of the pain that came along with it. I definitely didn't feel courageous or like any of the other synonyms the dictionary listed. As I fastened the necklace around my neck, I made a conscious decision to try and live up to the label I'd just received and accepted.
Although this label was clearly visible for the world to see, there are so many labels we hang around our necks that no one ever sees. On days when things are difficult and trying, we might subconsciously hang the label "failure" on our necks. When we've worked hard to accomplish a challenging task and succeeded, we might label ourselves "strong" or "amazing" or "awesome." Labels come not only from how we feel about ourselves but from how we're perceived by others. We must take great care in choosing which labels we'll allow to stay with us and choose which ones need to be discarded.
Whose voice are you listening to when you accept those labels? Are you listening to what Jesus says about you or what Satan says about you? Jesus will always give you positive labels. He'll say you're "redeemed," "beloved," "accepted," "forgiven," "precious," and "worthy." Satan will always give you negative thoughts which will in turn become negative labels. Those "failure," "hopeless," "worthless," "incompetent," type labels come straight at you from the pits of hell. You don't have to accept them. You have the power and authority to reject them!
Whatever labels you choose to hang around your neck will identify you to others. Even if they can't visibly "see" your labels, your attitude and actions will reflect how you feel about yourself. Do you want to be identified as a strong, brave, confident person who is walking in the truth of God's love or do you want to be labeled a hopeless failure?
Every day we make choices about how we present ourselves to the world. The clothing we select gives people a glimpse of who we are by letting them see our individuality. Our attitudes, our manner of speech, the way we carry ourselves...all of these label us. Some labels we choose and others are chosen for us. Everyone wears labels. With discerning eyes, we can see the ones that aren't truly visible. For example, have you ever walked past someone with a downcast countenance? Perhaps that person's label is "lonely" or "hurting." Labels, whether visible or invisible, say something important to or about ourselves and that's why it's important to choose them carefully.
The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21, "life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Words have the power edify or destroy. Labels hold the same power. Do you want to choose labels that speak life to your soul? If so, one way you can decide on your labels is to know what God says about you. How can you know that? You have to read the Bible. Here are some of the labels the Bible lists for you to wear:
• Child of God: "But to all who have received him--those who believe in his name--he has given the right to become God's children" … (John 1:12).
Although this label was clearly visible for the world to see, there are so many labels we hang around our necks that no one ever sees. On days when things are difficult and trying, we might subconsciously hang the label "failure" on our necks. When we've worked hard to accomplish a challenging task and succeeded, we might label ourselves "strong" or "amazing" or "awesome." Labels come not only from how we feel about ourselves but from how we're perceived by others. We must take great care in choosing which labels we'll allow to stay with us and choose which ones need to be discarded.
Whose voice are you listening to when you accept those labels? Are you listening to what Jesus says about you or what Satan says about you? Jesus will always give you positive labels. He'll say you're "redeemed," "beloved," "accepted," "forgiven," "precious," and "worthy." Satan will always give you negative thoughts which will in turn become negative labels. Those "failure," "hopeless," "worthless," "incompetent," type labels come straight at you from the pits of hell. You don't have to accept them. You have the power and authority to reject them!
Whatever labels you choose to hang around your neck will identify you to others. Even if they can't visibly "see" your labels, your attitude and actions will reflect how you feel about yourself. Do you want to be identified as a strong, brave, confident person who is walking in the truth of God's love or do you want to be labeled a hopeless failure?
Every day we make choices about how we present ourselves to the world. The clothing we select gives people a glimpse of who we are by letting them see our individuality. Our attitudes, our manner of speech, the way we carry ourselves...all of these label us. Some labels we choose and others are chosen for us. Everyone wears labels. With discerning eyes, we can see the ones that aren't truly visible. For example, have you ever walked past someone with a downcast countenance? Perhaps that person's label is "lonely" or "hurting." Labels, whether visible or invisible, say something important to or about ourselves and that's why it's important to choose them carefully.
The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21, "life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Words have the power edify or destroy. Labels hold the same power. Do you want to choose labels that speak life to your soul? If so, one way you can decide on your labels is to know what God says about you. How can you know that? You have to read the Bible. Here are some of the labels the Bible lists for you to wear:
• Child of God: "But to all who have received him--those who believe in his name--he has given the right to become God's children" … (John 1:12).
• Friend of Jesus: "I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father" (John 15:15).
• Justified and redeemed: "But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24).
• Free: "For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2).
• Heir: "And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)--if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:17).
• Accepted: "Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God's glory" (Romans 15:7).
•Saint: "… To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours (1 Corinthians 1:2). (See also Ephesians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, and Colossians 1:2.)
• Temple: "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" (1 Corinthians 6:19)
• Unified: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female--for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
• Blessed: "Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).
• Chosen: "For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love (Ephesians 1:4).
• Redeemed: "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7).
• Predestined: "In Christ we too have been claimed as God's own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will." (Ephesians 1:11)
• Sealed: "And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)--when you believed in Christ--you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit." (Ephesians 1:13)
• Alive: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you are saved! (Ephesians 2:4-5)
• Handcrafted: "For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them." (Ephesians 2:10)
I looked down at my necklace again and marveled at the engraving upon it. Black ink had been pushed deep into the lettering to cause the word "brave" to stand out against the silver metal. Brave. Could I really accept that label? The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to say yes. I looked back at the dictionary definition of the word brave. Ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage. synonyms: courageous, valiant, valorous, intrepid, heroic, lionhearted, bold, fearless, gallant, daring, plucky, audacious. I guess I had been a little plucky over the past few months. I kind of like the sound of that word, "plucky." It fits! Yes, I'll accept that and I'll be proud to call myself brave even though it seems a great big word to live up to for the rest of my life.
Please watch this short video to see how the labels we hang on ourselves affect us -
