Dale Carnegie said, “a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Our name stands for who we are, and everything people know about us will be connected to our name. If the world was a dictionary, we could look up your name, and the definition would describe you: not so much how you look, but what you are like.
Try this: think of someone you really care about. What comes to mind? Their name. Because your name represents your character; it’s tied directly to your reputation. When we do a good a job, we want to be known. If you’ve ever been part of a team who worked on something together, and there was a list of everyone involved, I bet you looked to make sure your name was there (and spelled correctly!).
As Christians, we’re tempted to be discouraged when we do something for God (serving, helping others), and we don’t get credit for it. Our name isn’t mentioned. We get left off the list. Or, how about this: someone else gets credit for our service. It’s at these times that we must learn to stop looking for our name to be published, and remember that it’s God’s name that is most important.
As Jesus taught us to pray, “our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name” (Matthew 6:9). Let God’s name be magnified (Psalm 34:3), for it is “holy and awesome” (Psalm 111:9). And remember that the Father has given Jesus “the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:10).
Following Christ by faith, we become identified by His name: “Christian.” That’s what we want people to know of us. That should be our reputation. May the mention of our name cause others to think of Jesus.
