Labeling
– Stereotyping – the Lord calls us not to Judge
Labeling,
name calling, describing people by what they look like or their character
traits.
Being
angry with others for not treating me with respect. It is not about me. We are
called not
The
Lord certainly does not want us labeling people or giving them a character type
or description.
He
doesn’t want us judging people as good looking or not, fat or thin, tall or
short, blonde or red hair, thin face or fat, long legs or short, bald, young,
old, etc. etc.
He
also doesn’t want us to describe people as nervous, shy, loud, obnoxious,
angry, quiet, funny, jealous, mean spirited, this, that or the other thing.
He
doesn’t want us labeling each other by race, color, nationality, religion, sex.
He
doesn’t want us to make blanket statements by group type, what is referred to
as stereotyping.
He
certainly does not want us to call another person a derogatory name or get into
negative or slanderous name calling.
Label – a descriptive
or identifying term. To describe or identify with a label.
Slander – a false or
malicious statement injurious to another’s reputation. Defame.
Derogatory – tending to
belittle, disparage. Detracting.
Stereotype – a
conventional, formulaic, usually highly simplified opinion, conception or
belief.
Too
often we group people together by type or by label or by stereotype, race,
color, religion, sex.
The
Lord wants us to treat each other with respect and dignity.
It
would be unfair of us to judge or characterize another person by the way they
look.
Our parents told
us you can’t judge a book by its cover.
How
are we going to get to know someone if we have already labeled then or
stereotyped them?
Prejudice – a bias for or
against something formed without basis. Irrational, intolerance of or hostility
towards members of a certain race, religion or group.
I
just think of all those times when I based an opinion on someone or something
without getting to know that individual or thing.
This
is really irrational; our Lord has asked us to live in peace with one another,
to live in harmony and to love our neighbor as our self.
When
someone asks you about another individual as a means of describing them, let
that person know that you don’t make it a habit to judge other people and
besides you would not want to influence their opinion of a particular
individual.
People
want us to describe people by looks, temperament, race, color, religion,
obviously sex, occupation, leisure time activities and physical or personality
type characteristics.
How does the
Lord want us describing another person?
He doesn’t, he
doesn’t want us making judgments.
He
certainly does not want us talking ill of one another.
Leviticus 19:16 – Do not go around spreading slander among
your people. Titus 3:2 – To slander no one, to be peaceable and
considerate and to show true humility towards all men. Not just some men, but
to all men. In 1 Corinthians 4:13
– Paul instructs us that when we are
slandered we are to answer kindly.
When
Paul describes wicked or evil people to he always includes slanderers.
1 Corinthians
6:10 nor thieves nor
the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom
of God.
Romans 1:30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent,
arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their
parents;
Slander
is an evil thing brought on by Satan. Remember to curb your tongue. It can be
sharper than a double edged sword but you can’t let it be.
Only
speak kind things of other people.
Words like
derogatory, label, stereotype, and prejudice don’t even appear in the bible
anywhere.
But
I think it is sufficient to say none of these represent true and absolute love.
Be
careful then not to call other people names, to label them by a characteristic
or character type, to judge you fellow man.
I
know a couple of reasons why people do this.
One out of fear
of the unknown and the second is more basic – self survival.
I
believe it is prudent to be wise, to use good judgment, to be on the lookout
for the evil one, to not be deceived. This is only smart, we need to be alert
and on the lookout for evil. I am not referring to these situations.
I
am referring to safe situations where we let our tongue get the best of us.
As our mothers
taught us, if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
This
is very true, why interject anything negative, critical, and cynical, about
another person.
Why
say anything at all?
Would
you see Jesus speaking ill of another person, classifying them or categorizing
them, I think not.
Why
do we do it then?
Usually
to build our self up.
It
makes us feel better about our self when we can speak ill of another. In
reality it has the opposite effect.
People
don’t like to be around people who speak negatively of others.
They
fear what you are going to say about them behind their backs. If we never speak
ill about someone to another person, they will trust and respect us more.
They
will have confidence to confide in us and desire to associate with us because
we are truthful, honest, sincere, nonjudgmental, positive, optimistic etc.
People
will want to associate with you; they will like you and appreciate your
friendship.
Remember then to
watch your tongue, watch out for the evil one, don’t judge but use good
judgment.
I
wrote a short note to Christina today and I emphasized to her two very
important rules in life that I want to live and guide my life by.
First, always
keep your word!
No
matter what, always be true to your word and your commitments. Always do what you
say you are going to do.
Secondly, actions
speak louder than words!
Let
your actions do the talking.
Don’t
say you are going to do something and then not do it.
Likewise
don’t verbally say you are going to do something, just do it.
Go
the extra mile, standout, do way, way more than you are asked to or are
required to do.
Go
above and beyond the call of duty.
Don’t
be lazy and take the easy way, do everything you do with an attitude of
perfection.
Don’t
wait to be asked, observe what needs to be done and do it without someone
asking you to do it.
People
respect others who do things without being asked to do them.
Don’t
just walk past something that needs to be picked up and put away, pick it up and
put it away where it belongs whether or not you made the mess.
It
doesn’t matter; it is all part of serving one another with love.
We
are not each other’s servants; we should not be doing things for others who are
capable of doing them.
We
need to teach our children how to do things for themselves, how to go the extra
mile, do things with an eye of perfection.
We
must teach them to slow down, don’t look for the easy way, pay attention to
details and have them take pride in their work.
It is not about
how fast something gets done but how well it gets done.
We
don’t do things just to get them over with, but to do the very best job we know
how.
I
think that is enough for today, my hand is definitely hurting. I love you my
Lord Jesus. I pray that you will watch over me and may the Holy Spirit be with
me in all my conversations. May he teach me what it means to love my neighbor
as myself. Be with me Lord in all my speech.
Our
(my) father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven, give me this day my daily bread and
forgive me my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me, lead me not
into temptation and deliver me from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory now and forever.
Amen.
Praise
to you Lord Jesus Christ.
