Names

Have you ever stopped to think about the names you have? Not your given name or your last name, but the names you pick up from friends, family, maybe even society? Some of them are pretty ugly names. And most of them hurt. And I think our tendancy is to walk around with those names, allowing them to define who we are. We may not even be aware of it. Just thinking for a few minutes can bring up some pretty painful names I've been given. Failure. Lazy. Ugly. Worthless. Unlovable. What is important to realize is that those names don't define me. They aren't my identity. My indentity is in Christ! It is Him who gives me my worth. And trades those names for the ones He gives me. Check out the first few verses of Isaiah 61 for some amazing examples of how He does this with the broken. Beauty for ashes. Gladness for mourning. He restores us and renews us. And can take away those names that have been given to us.

This week we spent some time sharing about ourselves. It wasn't easy. But it was pretty powerful. We shared those old names, the hurtful ones. And then as a body, we prayed for new names. The challenge is in receiving those names, putting down the ashes and putting on the beauty.