Craig T. Owens

Have you ever noticed how quickly we label people? We tend to give them a label based on their education, their socio-economic status, their race, their age, their gender, even their choice of vocabulary.

We may not verbally express these labels, but we think them. And we will always treat people as we label them! In fact, it’s impossible to treat someone differently than you think about them.

What sort of label does God use? Well, He says that He knit you together in your mother’s womb; that He saw all of the days of your life before you were even a twinkle in your father’s eye; He knows the number of hairs on your head; He knows the thoughts in your head; He knows what you’re going to say before you say it. And then there’s this beautiful thought—

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

The label God put on you:

My one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable, invaluable masterpiece!

When you are givingthanksgiving for people (that means you are always thankful for people), you will begin to see them as God’s masterpiece!

Everyone you meet is God’s gift. He gave them to humanity to do the good works which He prepared in advance for them to do. You are surrounded by gifted people! 

If you don’t see people this way—or if you tend to label them with less-than-flattering tags—perhaps you should begin to pray for them. Try a prayer like this:

I thank my God for you; in fact, I always thank God for you. And every time I thank God for you, I pray for you, night and day. In all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. And this is also my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. So I urge you to join me in offering requests, prayers, intercessionand thanksgiving for everyone. (This prayer is taken from Romans 1:8; 1 Corinthians 1:4; Colossians 1:3; 2 Timothy 1:3; Philippians 1:3-11; 1 Timothy 2:1)

Don’t just express your thanks for people on Thanksgiving Day, but be givingthanksgiving all the time. Remember: everyone you meet is a gifted person, because everyone you meet is God’s one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable, invaluable masterpiece.