Destroy the negativity labels

DAVID WAS a shepherd boy and shepherds were considered the lowest of the society. David was the forgotten son of Jesse who didn’t have the right family, but God used him to change the world. God changed David’s label from shepherd of sheep to shepherd of the nation, from forgotten son to celebrated king, from disregarded to overcomer. This marked a shift in David’s life and his years spent as a lowly shepherd boy ended. God’s hand was on his life, and it was never the same again. God was in the business of drawing greatness out of him, as He is willing to do for us. There were some years of preparation, but David rose from ordinary to extraordinary because of God’s anointing.

We might not think we’re much, but we and God are more than enough. Some of us believe that we have to ‘fix up’ ourselves to come to the Lord. That is far from the truth. We can’t fix up ourselves enough for God. It is when we come to the Lord that He fixes us. It is quite possible looking with the human eye, that David had very little potential. However, when the anointing of God came on his life, it made all the difference in the world and transformed a nobody, forgotten child into a great man of God.

We often look at ourselves and think that we’re not good enough, maybe because we graduated in the bottom half of our class or didn’t graduate at all. Maybe we’re the forgotten one in our family; maybe our parents weren’t proud of us. God is in the business of giving new names and He wants to do that for us as well. Abram and Saraiwanted children, and it just wasn’t happening. God worked in their lives, and Sarai became pregnant. Then He gave them both new names, Abraham and Sarah. They became the father and mother of many nations.

What name/label do you need changed? What negative label have you worn and it’s time for it to go? God can and wants to change that label. He will give us new names that we can grow into. Labels like ‘forgiven’, ‘overcomer’, and ‘conqueror’. God will not only give us new names, but along with that new name we will receive new purpose. David got a new purpose and so will we. Our new names/labels will come with new purpose. Out of our greatest weaknesses God can grow our greatest strengths and His purpose.

Finally, God will give us a new future. The prophet Jeremiah spoke for God when he said, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you … .” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT. Notice that the word is “plans” not “plan”. There’s not one right plan. There are many good plans for our future.

God wants to use us and gives us permission to believe we are His right person for the job that He has for each of us. God has placed His vision in our hearts, and we must move past the negative labels that others have placed on us, or even those that we have placed on ourselves. Like David, we must rise up and take hold of God’s plans for us. When Samuel anointed David, David had to make the decision that we too have to make. He had to reject the negative labels, even though he’d heard them a thousand times, and become a mighty man in the hand of the Lord. You too will do mighty things if you reject the negative labels. Rise up and trust God.