Labels and Limitations

In this video, you have a beautiful view of Mel not being very clear in her head in her way of explaining these two concepts! =0P

Let me offer a written and clearer distinction between the 2 and add a 3rd one to the definitions…

Labels: Labels are names or titles we attribute to ourselves and identify ourselves with. Ultimately, they kind of give us a sense of identity, a direction for our lives, and/or even a sense of belonging somewhere or in a category. In the spiritual realm, I would personally call these labels, lies and strongholds that our spiritual enemy uses to keep us stuck, powerless, passive and afraid… I mean … that “handicaped woman” label I used to believe and carry around, isn’t very representative of who I truly am, even if it may only be a small part of my reality. Who I am isn’t defined by it. God is The One who defines me. Labels are powerful because if we accept them for ourselves, they will lead us and we will live our whole lives through them without questioning them, thus repeating cycles in which we get stuck and that can, and often, will pull us down. What we allow to define who we are will determine our worth, where we belong, our whole identity and ultimately, our destiny. Psychology calls these deep beliefs about ourselves, Core Beliefs. And these core beliefs (that are often wrong!) guide our lives. So, we need to be very careful about what or who has this power over us. God’s person and His word (The Bible) are for ma an anchor and the Words of Truth concerning my worth, my identity and Who I belong to. I’ll offer some practical tools below 😉

“But now, this is what the LORD, your Creator says, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you [from captivity]; I have called you by name; you are Mine! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.”  Isaiah 43:1-2 AMP

Limitations: Limitations are restrictions imposed by ourselves or circumstances beyond ourselves such as physical impairments for example. We can have both mental and/or physical limitations. Physical ones can produce mental barriers, but we can also experience them without having any physical condition to ourselves… Mental limitations can be like protective fences we place around ourselves, or little prisons, like I call them, to protect ourselves out of fear, doubt, suspicion or more. Fear is usually the biggest blockage in our limitations, so we just stay stuck and never dare go beyond them. It’s a sad reality but so many of us actually miss out on things because of ourselves … As a believer, I would also say that some decisions or behaviors I had were simply “wisdom”, but with time, I realized that I was actually operating in fear and trying to overprotect myself from pain. So these little prisons or fences are generally very legitimate but they’re sad and often separate us from that life of abundance Jesus promised us. They’re like a form of self-sabotage, in some ways. But if we get the chance to recognize them, and have to courage to step outside of them and trust Jesus, the chains that hold us down will break off because that is what Jesus promises us in Him.

'Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. ''And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free .[…] 'So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” ' John 8:31-32-36 NLT

But, in some cases, limitations are actually beyond our personal choice and they influence more than we would like them to, as in my case. I didn’t choose to be limited in my physical life. And this is a very frustrating reality because I was, and still am in some things, forced to listen to my body’s limitations, because if I don’t, it could hurt me a lot. So I guess that in this case, some limitations are necessary to respect and listen to, because if we don’t, we could harm ourselves. My physical limitations brought about mental ones as time went by, to be honest. And even if (for some restrictions I experienced) there was improvement, old functioning patterns remained because they had become automatic and changing them would be uncomfortable and require effort and intentionality from my part. I guess that humility and honesty towards ourselves in these cases are necessary if we actually desire to experience the change and the new that we’re craving so bad after being stuck in our old patterns for so long…

And now, I want to add the 3rd concept that I don’t speak about in the video, but seems necessary to talk about: boundaries.

Boundaries are also limits that we can have for ourselves, but in this case, boundaries are healthy limits with the purpose of protecting our integrity, our values, our bodies, person, our families, etc… from abuse, or a lack of control of other’s behavior, for example, or from harm and danger. So, having boundaries beyond which we decide not to go or allow or don’t accept in our lives, is actually healthy, responsible and necessary. This requires to have some distance from things, discernment and maturity to protect what needs to be protected. This isn’t always easy because it will often either trigger the person in front of us cost us something for choosing to stand our ground. This reflects my last point above when I spoke about the need to listen to my physical limitations or I’d suffer serious consequences if I didn’t. sometimes, boundaries are necessary in behaviors we have, or with people around us, or whatever subject concerned. Fundamentally, boundaries are healthy because they protect what is healthy from what isn’t, and oftentimes it either costs us and will require courage from our part. Boundaries are invitations to safety, respect, peace, health, rest, integrity, love (the real one!), honesty and many more. This is attractive ;0)

Practical tools and steps

Personally, the more time I spent in God’s presence talking with Him and reading His words in the Bible, the more my eyes opened on these issues, so… I’m sure you’ve already guessed it. If you would like to discern these things in your life and break out of them, first of all, get close to God and ask Him to show and reveal these things to you, because He will. =0)

“Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.” Jeremiah 33:3 AMP

The second thing I would encourage you to do is to surround yourself with trusted people (family and friends or counselor) that dare confront you in your dysfunctional patterns. Exterior help can really be eye opening for us in these situations if we’re open to feedback and growth, because sometimes, it’s hard to see these things by ourselves. I’ve already mentioned this point in almost all my videos, but the importance of the people we choose to surround ourself with cannot be overemphasized in its importance to our growth. The people around us shape us more than we think so I believe it is important to have a look at who surrounds us, who has a voice in our life and in whom we place our trust in and give this place and power….

The 3rd things would be to write down what we see and what is revealed to us. Once we write these things down, we can observe where they hold a grip and influence in our life. This will show us all the thoughts and beliefs we have, all the behaviors that were shaped by them and ultimately, show us where we can work to break out of them.

Fourthly, I would encourage you to assess your core beliefs or “labels”; the things you believe about yourself. What I do is that I take a thought or a belief like :”I’m undesirable”. And then, I read what God has to say about that belief… an amazing example to counter that belief that affects probably more things than I’d wish it would be this Bible verse that says: “ The LORD your God is in your midst, A Warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with joy; He will be quiet in His love [making no mention of your past sins], He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” Zephaniah 3:17 AMP or “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.” 1 John 3:1 NLT . Do this for every wrong belief and image you have about yourself and then, look for what God has to say about and …. Believe Him ;0)

Fifthly, watch your behaviors, your reactions and things that seem to repeat themselves and try to do things differently, even if it’s uncomfortable and unnatural to you. If you flee every time someone handsome comes to talk to you, try staying and continue the conversation if your desire is to find a spouse 😉

All in all, please…. Go in this with God and His faithful help. Trying on our own is impossible most of the time, but if we go in this with Him, He will help us and grow us and give us victory =0)

God wants us to experience His freedom from our chains and patterns, but to maintain this freedom in the long haul, we sometimes need to put things in place, have gatekeepers and ask the Holy Spirit to continue to walk in wisdom and Truth, against our imprisoned and old self and into the Life God created us for!!

Be encouraged and be blessed! If this topic impacted you specifically, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me through the contact form you can find on this website!
With all my Love,

Mel

If you want to hear about what I have to say about Jesus, click here and meet me there =0)