Labeled by the Gator

When I was growing up it was cool to wear an Izod. An Izod was easily identified by the little green alligator sewn neatly on the left side of a collared shirt. JCPenney created the fox and one other company tried a bird, but nothing compared to the alligator. You were beastly if you wore the “gator.”

Life is the same way. We are often identified by labels sewn in our mind and heart. Parents, teachers, or even peers may have marked you stupid, a trouble maker, the brain, lazy, or even a princess. These labels often determine who we are.

“A child who is told repeatedly that he is a bad boy, or is lazy, or no good, or stupid, or shy, or clumsy, will tend to act out this picture which the parent or some other authority figure has given him.” Cecil G. Osborne

2 questions generate from the Izod.
1. Are you labeling?
Have you labeled your children, spouse, boss, co-workers, or friends? Have your words caused someone to propel into success or to give up before they started trying?
2. Are you living a label?
Were you mentally and emotionally branded by words in the past that control your life today?

You always have a choice. With others you’ve labeled, apologize. Shower them with encouragement. With those who have labeled you, forgive and prove. Forgive them because they probably did not know the barrier they built in your life. Prove them wrong. Realize it was their insecurity not yours, and become the person God intended you to be. God intends for each one of us to be his child and that outshines an alligator any day of the week. No Izod compares to being a child of the King, so rip off the “gator” and strut the crown of life God has given you.