Hello, my name is..

Have you heard that song by Matthew West, "Hello, my name is"? I love that song, every time it comes on the radio I always find myself turning up the volume and singing along. For more than one reason of course. First, the tune is catchy and a lot of fun, but more importantly the lyrics are powerful, and very very true.

I said the other day that I was reading in Colossians, and I was, but I have now moved on to Titus. As I was reading something stuck out to me, something I had never really given much thought to before, the way that Paul referred to himself at the beginning of the letter.

"Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of Gods elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness -- faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior." (Titus 1:1-3)

He knows exactly who he is, and whose he is, and he knows what he has been called to do. It is clear to him, he does not guess, he does not hint at something. He is clear and confident.

It makes me wonder, am I that confident? Do I boldly declare who I am, whose I am, and what my purpose is? Is that evident in my life, in my actions, in the way that I am? What does my nametag say? What is the salutation greeting that I give to others?

We get caught up in the past a lot. We get stuck on regret, defeat, lies, deceit. And the list goes on and on and on. We forget who we are, we forget whose we are, and we are unable to follow as closely and cling as tightly to God because we are misrepresented.

We take our sharpie out and try to scribble something new over the old, but it is still there, you can still see it. God wants to remove that label, he wants to change it. Forgiven, set free, changed, renewed. He can replace that with a fresh tag, no stains, no tears, nothing crossed out. That is how we should be living, that is what we should be clinging to.

How do you "introduce" yourself? What is the name that you go by? I need to start leaving my insecurities behind and be confident in who I KNOW I am in Christ!