Thursday, August 4, 2016

Are You a Label-Conscious Person?

Are you a label-conscious person? Do you read the labels on clothing and buy only "designer" labels? Do you judge your worth by the labels you wear or the labels you use?

What about the labels others put on you? Do you respond with delight at positive labels, such as: You're beautiful!, You're so smart!, You're amazing!  Such a response could lead to pride and arrogance.
 
Do you respond with despair at negative labels, such as: You'll never amount to anything; You're just like your father (your mother)!; You'll never be good at that. Such a response could lead to depression and defeat.



Labels. Recently, I read a blog post by a friend of mine that talked about the labels we allow to be placed on ourselves. That blog post got me thinking and inspired this one.

Have you ever considered how much labels affect your life? If you're wise, you will recognize labels for what they truly are: an attempt to define you.

The good news is that you do not have to accept any label you don't want to accept. Why? Because no one but God has the right or the authority to label you.

And how has God labeled you?

He has put two labels on you:

1) Made by God.

2) Redeemed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The fact that you were made by God means that He wanted you on this earth. He put you here for a purpose, and it is up to you to discover that purpose with His help.

The fact that you were redeemed by Jesus Christ means that He loves you, that you are precious to Him, and that you belong to Him.

These are the only labels you must accept in life. No one else has the right or the authority to label you. Only God has that right and that authoriby because only God truly knows who you are. And He has labeled you His own.

So, the next time someone tries to label you, don't accept the label. Instead, remind yourself that only God's labels matter in your life.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN: What false labels have you accepted in your life, and how have they affected you?

TWEETABLE:"Are You a Label-Conscious Person?" by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio (CLICK TO TWEET)

"Labels are an attempt to define you." ` Dr. MaryAnn Diorio (CLICK TO TWEET)


______________________________________________________
Copyright 2016 by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. All Rights Reserved.

To Become a Gabriel Girl, you need to qualify as follows:
  • You need to be born again. This means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and the Lord of your life.If you don't know how to do this, click here.
  • You need to have a desire to tell others about Jesus wherever you go and whenever you can.
  • You need to commit to following Jesus by reading the Bible and praying every day and by obeying Jesus' command to love Him and to love your neighbor.
    ____________________________________________________
You can find me on the following Social Media Venues:
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Monday, July 11, 2016

Five Tips for Eliminating Stress

Stress. It's the bad word of our age. It's all around us. Worst of all, it's in us.

But only if we allow it.

Are you stressed? Are you stressed about school? Career decisions? A relationship? A family situation? A health situation? A job problem?


Whatever the cause of your stress, you can get rid of it once and for all. Here are five tips for eliminating stress from your life:

1-Acknowledge that stress is a sin. Now, that's not what you may have wanted to hear, but it's the truth. And on this blog, we always speak the truth. :)

Jesus commanded us not to stress. Listen to what He said in Philippians 4: 6-7:

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Jesus would never give us a command we were unable to obey. He also tells us how to obey it--which brings us to stress-eliminating tip number two:

 2-Pray about what's stressing you. God alreadys knows what you're stressed about, but He wants you to tell Him for your sake, not His. Verbalizing your stress is one way of getting it off of your shoulders and putting it on Christ's shoulders. After all, His shoulders are far bigger than yours. :) Listen to what He says in 1 Peter 5: 7:

 "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you." 

3-Thank God in the midst of the stress. I can hear you now: "What?? Are you crazy?"

No, I'm not crazy. I have a sound mind. :)

So, why should we thank God in the midst of a stressful situation? Because doing so shows God that we truly trust Him to help us.Trust is an expression of faith, and faith brings God's blessings into our lives.

Jesus says this in 1 Thessalonians 5: 18:
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
We don't give thanks FOR our circumstances; we give thanks in spite of our circumstances because we trust God to see us through.

4-Monitor your thoughts. The majority of stress results from our thinking wrong thoughts. Jesus says this in 2 Corinthians 10: 5:

"We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ."

As we monitor our thoughts, we have to capture every negative thought and bring it under Christ's authority. Submitting the negative thought to Christ's authority strips the negative thought of its power to stress us out.

5-Think only good, positive thoughts about your situation. Changing your mental focus from negative to positive will help you to overcome stress.

The Bible says this in Philippians 4: 8:

"Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

So, there you have it: Five Tips for Eliminating Stress. Apply them to your life and watch your stress level drop to zilch.
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN: What stresses you the most? What have you done to get rid of the stress? Have you tried God's way for eliminating stress? Please share your thoughts. We value them!

 TWEETABLE:
"Five Tips for Eliminating Stress" by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio (CLICK TO TWEET)


______________________________________________________
Copyright 2016 by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. All Rights Reserved.

To Become a Gabriel Girl, you need to qualify as follows:
  • You need to be born again. This means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and the Lord of your life.If you don't know how to do this, click here.
  • You need to have a desire to tell others about Jesus wherever you go and whenever you can.
  • You need to commit to following Jesus by reading the Bible and praying every day and by obeying Jesus' command to love Him and to love your neighbor.
    ____________________________________________________
You can find me on the following Social Media Venues:
Posted by at No comments:
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