What is Your Name?
-
Hitler, Stalin, Ahab, Jezebel, Beelzebub, Lucifer, John Wilkes Booth, Osama Bin Laden, Al Capone, Nero, Atilla the Hun.
What is in a name? Does one’s name really matter in the long run?
Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.”
Ecclesiastes 7:1 says, “A good name is better than precious ointment;”
The name that one wears is very important and is something that is usually carefully considered when parents give names to children. There are some names that have been greatly soiled due to the lives that people have lived and things that they have done. Those names will probably never be thought of in a purely positive light again. The list of names at the beginning of this article lead most people to very negative emotions just by hearing the names mentioned. Those names have been tainted by the wicked and evil acts that those people committed. If a child today were given one of those names, it would be quite difficult to overcome their reputation even if they lived a wonderfully good life.
How many good people named “Hitler” would it take to repair the damage done to that name? If 1,000 good people were named “Hitler” over the next 10 years and they all led Godly, high profile lives the name “Hitler” would still carry with it negative emotions.
Did you ever have to deal with a bully in school? When you were in school was there ever someone that you dreaded to see and tried to avoid at all costs because of how they treated you? I bet most of you are thinking of someone. I bet, even years later, you remember their name. You might not remember most people in your class, but you remember their name. Even today, when you hear of someone with that name, you have to overcome great feelings of negativity to try and not hold against this person what someone in the past did. You know it is a different person, but just having the same name can lead to a prejudice against them because of how someone else with that name once treated you.
Abraham, David, Moses, Lincoln, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther, Edison, Paul, Peter, James.
These names each bring with them good emotions because of the good they have done. Each of these names has been given to children over and over because of the great reputation that is associated with the names.
Names can be made or broken by one person. One person can live such a life that a name is never desired or wanted again. Yet one person can also live a life that leads many people to want the same name for their children due to the good reputation that comes with that name.
Live your life in such a way that your name is better for you having had that name. Live your life in such a way that your name is known for doing right, leading others to do right, and standing for truth. Live your life in such a way that others will want to use your name because of who you were and the life that you lived.
