Your Name is Valued

“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold” (Proverbs 22:1).

As a former teacher, I remember when students from previous years would just beam with joy as I affectionately remembered their names. Think about the times you were in a gathering place of unfamiliarity, and someone acknowledged you by saying your name. You of all people, how did it make you feel? We tend to gain a feeling of acceptance when someone identifies us by our name. This is especially true with students. They are not just recognized as “boy” “girl” or “hey you!” Names have value!

God shared this important value of his name in the third commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). We must honor and serve him with the utmost respect. He loved his people and ensured they identified with him as is with us today, “O Israel, Fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine” (Isaiah 43:1). When we are adopted into the family of God, we become his sons and daughters and have all the rights of his children in Jesus’s name.

No matter how many times Israel messed up, God acknowledged them as his own. He even sent his only son to make sure they/we could be reconnected in fellowship with Him again. So, what about you, what is the character you are portraying with your name? Does it represent Jesus well? Are you showing the love that He commissioned us to share with our neighbors? Are you proud to share Jesus’s message as the only Way to the Father and for the one that redeemed us from our sin?  Or are you ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and choose not to share that precious name with others. I hope you will find value and acceptance in the one and only name of Jesus Christ. If you would like to pray, I would be glad to pray with you.