There is a well-known advertising slogan in the United Kingdom: “Does exactly what it says on the tin.” This was an effective tool for the company that used it to promote its fence paint. 

Product labels let consumers know what they are buying and what the product can do, so when we shop, we look at the label. But what happens when we put labels on people or ourselves or buy into labels others have placed on them or us? 

When we make assumptions about anyone based on factors such as appearance, wealth, social standing, or physical condition, we are labeling. That, however, is not how God sees any of His children. In the first chapter of the Bible, we learn that man—the true, spiritual identity of each one of us—is created in the image and likeness of God, Spirit, and that “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).