Written by Nilaurys Garcia, Iron Rose Sister Ministries volunteer in Chile
Labels are very useful to identify spices and to differentiate between salt and sugar in the kitchen. When moving, they help us know where the fine china is so that we can be careful to not break it. They can also identify who we can ask questions when we are at a tourist site, travel office, sporting event, or in other places.
In the same way that labels have their positive aspects, they also have their negative side when they are used to judge.
Opinions are more impactful when they come from those we most love, our physical family, our spiritual family, friends, coworkers, or classmates. And on those days when we feel down, if someone gives us a strange look, we can feel hurt.
Can you think of a time in which the labels of Christian and single might have a negative connotation?
The way in which you define yourself, at times, can be different from the way in which others see you, simply because we are using different lenses. If you do not live your life in the way that the world wants you to and you have not met the world’s standards, like having a partner, a stable job, kids, an academic title, and being highly recognized across your continent, I invite you to take a deep breath and repeat with me, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Eccl. 3:11, NIV).
If you’re like me, others have made you feel bad for being single. I want to remind you that you are important because you are a daughter of God, not because of your marital status. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8:16). You are not incomplete as some may think. You have not missed your chance. And you will not be the bitter old lady with the cats.
If you have suffered for the cause of Christ, if you have lost your job because you decided you could not be part of a certain situation, or if your own family questions why you study the Bible, why you connect to that Zoom meeting, or why you gather with that group on Sundays, I encourage you to keep the faith. I know it hurts, but the reward far outweighs any suffering and we have the great Comforter. “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” (2 Cor. 1:5).
You are I my prayers. You are not alone. You are worthy and I invite you to repeat, “I am a daughter of the Almighty and in Him I find comfort.”