If you know me, you know I’m deeply committed to two of life’s essentials: coffee and chocolate. Bring me some good quality dark chocolate and a strong cup o’ joe (sans the swirls, syrups, and sprinkles please) and we can be buddies for life.

My home bears evidence of this proclivity (okay, fine, it may be an addiction) to coffee and chocolate. I’m not sure if this should go on public record, but I’m the proud mama of seven different types of coffee-making gadgets. If you’re wondering how that’s even possible, here’s the list: the trusty drip coffee machine, the bathtub-sized drip coffee machine (for when we have guests), the traditional Indian filter-coffee steel jar, the charming Italian stovetop moka pot, the fancy French press, the Chemistry-class-like pour over, and the cool cold brew maker.

For you tea-lovers who dunk a bag into hot water and call it good, you may be looking at me like I need therapy. But, like someone “wisely” said, have you considered the possibility that coffee could be addicted to me?

Admitting that I’m a coffee lover or a chocoholic is not a big deal. It’s a label that brings camaraderie at best and maybe slightly scornful or shocked glances at worst.

But there are labels that we slap on ourselves that are potentially more damaging.

While we worship a God who wants to sanctify us, the tags we attach to ourselves could keep us stuck.

Some of us have resigned ourselves to those “personality profiles.” We’ve repeatedly told ourselves things like, “I’m just lazy,” or “I have serious road rage,” or “I have zero patience. I lose it with my kids like all.the.time”

Others of us seem to celebrate the labels we attach to our personas. In my years of writing this blog, I’ve often jokingly mentioned that I’m a people-pleaser—but in using self-deprecating humor as my cover, I may have celebrated that weakness instead of bringing it to the Lord who disciplines those He loves.

While we worship a God who wants to sanctify us, the tags we attach to ourselves could keep us stuck.

We think to ourselves, “This is just who I am. I’m just being me.”

It’s good to know who we are. It’s good to know what makes us tick, what makes us happy or angry, and how we react to different triggers in our social environment.

But while ‘knowing’ is beneficial, it may not be enough. Our self-examination should propel us toward God who shapes us into who He created us to be. We are works in progress, not mannequins who are not moldable.

Of course, I’m not discounting or disparaging the qualities that make you uniquely you. There is no question that when God fashioned you, He blessed you with a distinct and beautiful personality. Scripture says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made—and I believe that declaration includes our physical, emotional, and mental being.

But, by living in a broken world, we have imbibed or inherited its brokenness. Instead of letting the labels dictate our behavior, can we yield to the Lord so He develops our character?

When you gave your life to Christ, you were justified by Him, and in that instant, your status changed from “dead in sin” to “alive in Christ.” It changed from “slave to fear” to “child of God.” It changed from “enemy of God” to “friend of Jesus.”

But God is in the business of justifying us and sanctifying us to conform us to the image of His Son. While we are already made new in Christ, we are also inwardly being made new throughout our lives. Let’s not put ourselves in an air-tight, do-not-disturb box—He’s not done with us yet.

An old Sunday School song I know captures this idea with these sweet words:

He’s still working on me,

To make me what I ought to be;

It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars,

The sun, and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars,

How loving and patient He must be,

If He’s still working on me!

So, yes, we can say, “This is me,” but we can amend that phrase with these words: “But I’m a work in progress.”

 

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