What’s in a name? Everything. Biblically, peoples’ names reflected their character. To learn their name was to know what they were like. That is why when God transformed people such as Saul of Tarsus or Jacob the deceiver; God issued them a new name.
Unfortunately, there are people who are careless with their name. As long as they get what they want, they are indifferent to what people think about them. As a result, people know them as pushy, rude, self-centered, or a bully.
Christians ought to live their lives with a keen awareness that their behavior reflects on Christ’s name. When people relate to them, they ought to come away from that encounter impressed with Christ. How sad, that many in the world today have a mistakenly low view of Christ because of their experience with one of His followers.
We may think we are just “doing business” or “getting the job done” when we treat people harshly or rudely. But we are not. We are, in fact, letting people know what we are really like. Every word we speak. Every action we take. Every encounter with people is establishing our reputation. Are you comfortable with the way people view your life? Does it honor Christ?