What's Your Name?

• Your formal name given by your mom and dad
• Your nickname
• Your childhood name the family uses (ugh!)
• Your complete formal name used for business or medical purposes
• Your sports name
• Your alias (hope not)
• The name your special sweetie calls you!

Maybe you have a title that identifies you: Mom, Dad, Coach, Teacher, Pastor, Auntie, Grandpa. Or, you could still be someone's parent or someone's spouse. Years ago, my husband and I owned a business together and I bristled when someone referred to me as The Owner's Wife. Grrrr.

A Baby's Name

A lot of thought goes into naming a baby. It often takes months of discussion, thinking, considering, and cajoling to come up with just the right one. It may honor a family member or reflect a special occasion (think Joy Noel).

A child's name has to be one both parents like and it has to sound good with the family surname. It especially can't lend itself to teasing on the school playground. Someone who loved you spent a lot of time coming up with your special name.

Your Name and Your Identity

There are times, however, when you're not feeling too great about yourself or your life. You don't fit in, you're not comfortable, everyone else has got it all together and you're wondering where it's at. Others' lives look perfect while yours is unraveling. You're an adult but still striving to find your true identity. That can be a rough path.

There's a lovely praise song from a decade ago titled, "I Will Change Your Name" and it goes like this:

I will change your name.
You shall no longer be called
Wounded, outcast, lonely, or afraid.

I will change your name.
Your new name shall be
Confidence, joyfulness, overcoming one,
Faithfulness, friend of God,
One who seeks my face.

God Values You

 

The good news is, God knows your name and he values you. Your identity is tied up, not only in your name, but in the fact you are a child of God--royalty for sure--no matter what you're feeling about your life.

If you feel lately like you are:

"Wounded," Outcast," "Lonely," "Afraid," or a host of other negative labels...

then read the words to this song and let them sink into your consciousness. Better still, click on this link and watch a video of the Nebblett Family as they perform the song, "I Will Change Your Name."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liOzd21u5MY

  Let these words wash over you. They validate your worth to God.