Who Am I?



Names have always intrigued me. When I hear the name of a new baby I wonder- how did they decide on that name? What does it mean to them? Maybe others don’t think like this but I do.

Names have meaning and origin. Lois is a Bible name. Lois is mentioned in the New Testament as the mother of Eunice and the grandmother of Timothy. As an English name, it came into use after the Protestant Reformation. In fiction, this is the name of the girlfriend of the comic book hero Superman. In the US the name Lois was among the top 50 names from the 1920’s through 1940’s. (According to one online source- behindthename.com) Since 1983 it has been obsolete.

The Greek meaning of Lois is ‘more desirable’ or ‘better’. Now I’m sure this is not in a sense of what much of our culture thinks today- in a sensual way or in a way of bragging. I like the American meaning given- holy. As one who is a follower of Jesus Christ I desire to be holy because He is holy. (1 Peter 1:16) 

You know the saying-

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.

Do you believe it? This saying led us to believe that it was better to have broken bones than a broken spirit. There’s only one truth in this saying- sticks and stones may break our bones. The lie we believed is that name calling didn’t hurt. BUT it does.

Names often define who we are. Names define our character. Some names- if we choose to believe them define our worth. Throughout my life I have been called many names by different people. Some of those names were harmful. The harmful names tore down my spirit. Caused me harm; made me think there was something wrong with me, my character, and my sense of self-worth.

For many years I allowed the negative names and statements I was called to create fear, a sense of “I can’t because I am…, or be a hindrance to something God was calling me to do. I had to learn to focus on the positive names I was called, the endearing names God calls me.

As a follower of Christ I am called “the apple of His eye, His treasured possession, a child of God, friend of Jesus, a new creation, chosen, redeemed, dearly loved, and forgiven.” What a reminder of who I really am! Now I choose to let God determine my worth, character, and who I am.


Who are you?

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