When I was in high school, I remember walking out to my car one morning and seeing the words ‘You’re a whore’ written on the window. I think we can all agree that the saying Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you is a complete lie. Those words hurt me a lot. And I carried them in my heart for years, wondering if that’s what people thought of me.
Until I came across four very important words in Mark.
“Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called the blind man. ‘Take courage!’ they said. ‘Get up! He is calling for you.’ Throwing off his cloak, Bartimaeus jumped up and came to Jesus.” – Mark 10:49-50
Throwing. Off. His. Cloak.
In New Testament times, beggars were usually blind, disabled, or diseased, and their cloak identified them as such. It was what qualified them to receive assistance. But Bartimaeus threw off that cloak. He knew that he would never be the same again after being called by the King of Kings, so he immediately cast away his old life.
And I realized I needed to do the same thing. It was time to throw off the various cloaks I had picked up in my life—whore, addict, sinner, perfectionist—so that I could put on the cloak being handed to me by my Savior: His.
I will never forget seeing those nasty words scribbled on my car. But when I hold those words in one hand and God’s words in the other, it’s easy to decide which ones I want to give power in my life.
Anytime that we base our identity on a label given to us by another person, good or bad, we are held captive by their opinions. But God is unchanging, unfailing, and unshakable, and when we find our identity in Him, we become those things as well.
What cloak do you need to throw off today as you run to Jesus?
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!”
– 2 Corinthians 5:17
Grace Waves 
I LOOOOOOVE THIS! Thank you for such a powerful image of throwing off the labels life has given us. Now we get to clothe ourselves in His love and grace, simply because we are His. Thank you for your inspiring words, Sister! 🙂 So so good.
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Wow! Very strong and encouraging! Beautiful!
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Thanks so much, Kevin!
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This is such an important message! We all need to throw those cloaks off.
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Throw off the cloak and put on the armor of Heavenly Father. We wear it much better and with our head up and our hand out to help others.
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This is so powerful! Love it!
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It is so easy to let others influence our self-perception and as your post reminds us we should instead be letting God’s perceptions of us, as his beloved children, influence how we see ourselves. I agree – let’s take off our cloaks and find our worth in Christ!
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Wow–so powerful. I didn’t realize that the cloak signified qualification for assistance back then! You are so right that we need to stop letting ourselves be beholden to what others call us.
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Very powerful and important message Jordan! I’ll take my new garment of righteousness over those old filthy sins I was wearing any day!
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This is so true, Jordan! I love your point about how even when we take on “good” labels, if that is our focus, we are losing sight of the only label that matters!
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