Don’t Be Ashamed of That Name
There are certain names that are infamous. We often tell young ladies that they need to be glad their parents did not name them Jezebel, for example.
Other names might just be difficult to carry at a certain time. For example, during the Civil War, there was a fairly high-ranking Union soldier who had just such a name. He led at least a few charges in battles in the southwestern portion of Missouri for the Northern army and was also a corps commander later in the war under William Tecumseh Sherman during the “march to the sea.”
But his name probably caused him more than a little grief during that war, considering he fought for the North. His name? Jefferson Davis.
How many times do you think he heard jokes or even took a ribbing due to nothing more than a coincidence; that he shared the name of the President of the Confederate States of America, the very group he was fighting against? It had to be in his mind many times. Even years later, when Shelby Foote wrote his narrative of the Civil War, he introduced Davis into the story by saying he had an “unfortunate” name.
Maybe your name is not so infamous or does not cause quite the same level of embarrassment, but maybe you do not like other names people call you. Maybe you have been labeled negatively by others because of a physical issue, a negative past, or some character flaw. Maybe people even make fun of your actual name for some reason.
No matter what labels or names get put on you, there is one name that not only is worthy of wearing, but that you can glory in wearing.
“Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1 Peter 4:16).
I do not know what type of suffering or struggling you might have gone through (or might be going through) for your faith, but notice that Peter writes that it does not matter, so long as we wear the name of Christ. Our circumstances do not change that fact. Our ups and our downs do not change that fact.
The only thing that matters is: am I wearing the name of Jesus Christ? If the answer to that is “yes,” then the name I wear is one that I can glory in, no matter what names or labels others might put on me.
Do you wear His name?
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
