Grace and Labels

            Recently I started following the website and blog for People of the Second Chance and their site has pushed me to take a very introspective look about the way I look at life as well as the people in my life (Thanks for showing me the site Pastor Bob). For most of my life I have held grudges against those that I felt had done me wrong in some form or fashion. I don't think grace had really even been in my vocabulary (except in a selfish form). Also when it came to labeling people this was just a part of life. In order to determine which people you associate with and those who you hold closest, you attach certain labels to justify these actions. People of theSecond Chance ultimately has made me take another look at my life and how I address these two aspects of it.

  Even with all of this recent introspect I don't know whether I have developed more answers or questions honestly. I have found myself attempting to be more generous with grace. I am fortunate for the forgiveness that has been given to me throughout my life. Like everyone else, throughout my life I have made mistakes. Some mistakes have been small and some have been large. Some of these have just impacted myself and others have impacted those around me. Through all these I think most people have offered me a tremendous amount of grace. I am so thankful for the people in my life that have shown me this grace over the years. These people have been unconditionally loving and helped me get through some very rough times. This has made me wonder why I may have been so stingy with grace personally . Again this has created a bigger question than any answers for me personally. I did not grow up in a family that was lacking in grace. From my family I saw incredible acts of grace and kindness. Both my grandmother and my mom have been incredible examples of how to apply grace. I have seen someone take advantage of them, yet they were always able to put those things aside and see the best in people. This has of course led to some people taking advantage of them but you can find plenty of examples where people have been touched and changed by the help and grace that they were given. And over the past 8 years I have been so lucky to share my life with someone who also gives grace and forgiveness freely, and has pushed me to try and do the same, my wife.  As I said, I have never been one to embrace this type of acceptance and grace but it is something I am working on and I am so blessed to have had such great personal examples to draw from.

Labels are something that I am really struggling with much more than grace. I find myself surrounded by labels. I wonder if labels are a reality of life. I am not saying that labels are static. I feel that our labels can change throughout our life. Labels I feel are more of an adjective about us and where we are in our life not a title that we should be stuck with forever. Labels, if we indeed need to have them, they should be fluid. Just because we fall into a category and description now, doesn't mean that we will fit that tomorrow, or next month, or six years from now. I know personally I am not the same person today as I am typing this as I was 2 or 3 years ago. Life is constant change and we should not be forced to have the same label throughout our life. Is this justification for not having labels at all? I am really not sure how to answer that question. Maybe I am justifying my own placement of labels on myself and others. The more I think about labels the more questions I have. I know that my thoughts on this have helped me attempt to not make snap judgments on labeling people. We all have succumb to the mantra that first impression are the most important. This is one thing I am trying to change. I do not want to judge and put a label on someone the instant that I meet them. I am in no way saying that this is easy or that I do not do this, however I am trying to get to know people a little better before I make these types of decisions. 

This introspective look is all still fairly recent. I hope over time I will gain some more insight on these topics and have a better idea of how to let go of labels and give grace more freely. Hopefully this is a topic I will revisit in the future and have some better insight.