Philippians 1:27
How much value do you put on your name? If something is of great worth we
protect it, we are quick to tell others of the value we place on the item,
person or family name. Have we
lost the importance of a good name, and if you do not value that, where do you
place significance? It was not
that long ago in the South that a man of character placed value in his name,
and his word was all you needed to make a business transaction, but now it
requires lawyers and accounts, and even then, people look for ways to go back
on the contract.
If you have not been taught the value of a good name, and
the culture you grew-up in is built on deception and lies, and you have placed
little or no value on your family name, and then you entered into a
relationship with Christ; will you have any understanding of what Paul is
speaking to? “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of
Christ,” I must say that the history of many years of people who claim
the name Christian, show how little value we place on God’s action of
grace. How little value we place
on being part of the family of God, when often people who go by the name of
Christian act worst than the ones in the world, and bring shame on the name of
Christ.
We are being redeemed, saved, born again, by the grace of a
loving God, and many of those who have this new life have known nothing but
self, they been trained like a bird dog to do whatever it requires to take care
of number one. The Bible calls
that flesh, and it is very clear that the desires of the flesh are against the
Spirit, Galatians 5:16-25. If that
is your pattern, you need to understand that God places great value on His
name. “From
the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!” (Psalm
113:3) So when Christians
imitate the non-believer, it brings not praise but shame on the family of God,
and it should break our hearts.
The writer of Romans is the apostle Paul, but what is of
value is that the Holy Spirit inspired it. And the Holy Spirit knew you before you were formed in your
mother, He knew all about your flesh and the culture that you would come out
of. He inspired Paul to tell us this; “And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God.” (Romans 12:2)
Each morning look into the mirror and thank your Father in heaven for
adopting you, tell Him how much your new identity means, and that you want the
Holy Spirit to remind you, “Who you are” and the great price that Jesus paid to
give you life, yes, life and victory over both death and sin.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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