As I look back on the various seasons of my life, I see how I have worn different labels on this journey. Some labels seemed to have been automatically given to me and others I have chosen.

I was first a “little girl” born into a loving, stable family consisting of my mom, my dad, and an older brother. Many are not so fortunate.

Later I became a “good student” in my early grades of school primarily because my parents assured that I attended school regularly. There was always good food on the table and adequate clothes and shoes to wear. And they gave me lots of praise and encouragement. Not everyone can say the same.

As I grew up, wearing the label “college student” was a choice I was able to make because of a partial scholarship and because my parents were able to pay the rest of my post high school expenses. Some young people must delay college or technical training until they can pay for it themselves through money put aside from a job.

Even if you feel good fortune passed you by in the early days of your life, there is a label you can choose to receive. And this personal descriptor is the most important that you can have. It is to be one of God’s children. The Bible teaches us that you are born into the world made in God’s image. However, as you mature, you must choose to remain a child of God.

Read the twelfth verse in the first chapter of John’s Gospel in your preferred language(s) below and contemplate how this paternity makes you very special—from a royal lineage, no less! A King’s child and part of the kingdom of God. Copy the verse on an index card and put it where you will see it every day for the next week. Say it aloud and let the message of the verse speak to you.

English: Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 NIV (Holy Bible New International Version)

Français: Mais à tous ceux qui l’ont reçue, à ceux qui croient en son nom, elle a donné le pouvoir de devenir enfants de Dieu. Jean 1 :12 LSG (Bible Segond 1910)

Español: Mas a todos que le recibieron, a los que creen en su nombre, les dio potestad de ser hechos hijos de Dios. Juan 1:12 (Biblia Reina Valera 1960)

Deutsch: Wie viele ihn aber aufnahmen, denen gab er Macht, Kinder Gottes zu werden, die an seinen Namen glauben. Johannes 1:12 DELUT (Lutherbibel 1912)

Words of Encouragement When You Feel Left Behind
Connie Carlisle Polley, 2020
ConnieCarlislePolley.com
NonnyDay.com