“ A good name is more desirable than great riches.” Proverbs 22:1
“ …those who rail against me use my name as a curse.” Psalm 102:8
To move on in discipleship one must be weaned off others’ opinions of themselves. Oh sure, others’ opinions matter, we just can’t live for them or by them. Our motivation should be “to make it our goal to please the Lord,” 2Cor. 5:9, knowing that “to our own master we stand or fall.” Romans 14:4.
It is a wonderful thing when we hear our name used in context of success, and it is somewhat of a drag to have our name become synonymous with failure or mediocrity. We must rise above both views and surrender our souls and image to the one whose opinion matters most.
Think about our Lord. Paul writes in Philippians 2:9 that Jesus was given the name above all names and yet is there anyone in history whose name has been used more often as a curse than his? As a mechanic I worked with some guys whose mouths seemed to have a direct line to the sewer. One in particular, a fairly decent fellow in comparison, could not complete a sentence without a reference to our Lord. This galled me and I wondered what I should do. The day came when he and I were alone in the battery room.
“Ben, can I talked to you a moment?” I asked. He grunted in the affirmative.
“If I was to drop this battery on my foot and stomp around saying (I used his wife’s name), how would that make you feel?
“I’d probably be pretty ticked off!”
“And rightly so.” I added. I went on to tell him how I felt when he used my Lord and Savior’s name in such a worthless manner. He responded quite favorably and there was a marked improvement in his speech.
I tell that story because it may be ordained for you and me to have times when our name is used as a curse and we are invited to share in this suffering of our Lord. May I suggest that you not respond at an elementary school kid level and simply entrust yourself to your Father and continue to do good. The good name will follow in due time.
Pastor Doug
