How we label people affects our love for them. Or maybe it’s the other way around.
“You can’t reach people you hate,” is a mantra we reiterate to the start new teams we work with.
So many of our labels pass subconsciously through our mouths before any mental brake can be applied. Whether formed as a child or from an encounter as an adult, they reveal a we/they mentality, setting us against rather than uniting us together.
They tag you in or out. Repeatedly Jesus demonstrated a no-labels love. The labels His culture abided by He routinely ignored. The houses He shouldn’t have entered and people He shouldn’t have touched, He did.
He chose loving over labeling. Most often I use labels to elevate me. Or promote me. Or signify I am somehow better than or more deserving of the good.
From Jesus’ seat labels hold no value. Only love.