Originally published on The Electric Gospel on February 2, 2017.
Author’s name withheld by request.
The Value of Your Name
What’s your name? If you’re anything like the typical human being, you’ve been asked this question so many hundreds of times you’ve lost count. In fact, you’ve been asked this question so many times your response has become automatic. It’s been automatic for a while.
“Hello, what’s your name?”
“I’m ______.” Fill it in how you’ve been filling it in for your entire life. With your name.
Names are powerful things. I think in our modern culture today, we’ve really lost the magic and meaning that names have. Now don’t get me wrong, plenty of our modern day names still sound great, and they’re great names. But sometimes I wonder if many of the names people have today really mean something. For example, Suzannah means “Lilly of the Valley.” Peter means “Rock.” You get the picture. I wonder if people even know what their name means. If you don’t know already, go ahead right now and look it up.
Now I’m going to ask you a different question. What does your name mean? What does it say about you?
We all have different names for ourselves, depending on the context and situation. I’m sure you have plenty of names. Take a minute. What are you called? What do you go by? What do those names say about you? Names are powerful, so think about it. Think about it.
I have one more question for you. Who are you?
If you answered that question with your name, you’re only sorta getting it.
Before I explain what I mean by that, let me clarify. By all means, your name is part of who you are. Maybe I should italicize a different word there, though. Your name is part of who you are. Certainly, it tells a lot about you. It has a story behind it. It tells about you, and that’s pretty awesome.
But the answer to that question is more than that, because there is one name that we haven’t mentioned yet. And it’s the most important name you could ever, ever have. It was given to you by the One who cared more about you than anyone else who has ever lived. More than you could ever imagine. He gave you a name. He called you Beloved.
Take a moment and look up one more name. Your name. The name the Savior of the world gave you. What does your name mean? Who are you? Take a look at Galatians 4:7 – “So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”
You are called God’s “dearly loved” (Ephesians 5:1). You are his beloved.
Maybe you’re going through a sort of Identity crisis right now. Maybe you don’t really know how to answer that last question. But I can tell you the one name you can never change. The identity you can never lose. A beloved child of God. Don’t lose hope. Don’t lose your worth. Because if you find your worth and identity in Christ, you have more worth than the brightest diamond in the sky.
