When I was in Kindergarten, I was sent home with worksheets to trace my name to give me practice in order to learn how to write it. The problem was the name I would be learning to write was Jenny, not Jennifer. When I showed these to my parents, they were like “No. No, no, no, no, no; not gonna happen.” There were three Jennifers in my class at the time and I think our teacher just wanted to be able to tell us apart! “That’s not your name,” my parents told me and I believed them. I went back to school the next day with a note from them to give to my teacher with the instruction that I be given new worksheets. I can’t imagine how I would feel now if my name had been changed- just like that; if suddenly I had to answer to a name that wasn’t really mine.
But so often, isn’t that what happens?
We make a mistake and pretty soon we’re known by our sin and not who we are.
Sometimes our reputation precedes us when we wish it wouldn’t. We aren’t as good, or as bad, as people think.
Or we feel that we don’t live up to the titles we hold in life; feeling as though we are named by our failures as a wife, mother, friend, daughter.
What I love about Lot’s story is that even after all of what happened, he is later called righteous in the Bible.
“…and if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials…” 2 Peter 2:7-9
Now, I was surprised at that. I mean, Lot was the one who wanted to stay in Sodom! He was the one that offered up his daughters to be taken by the crowd. He was the one who allowed his family to live in such a terrible place. But, Peter points out that Lot’s soul was righteous. He was tormented by what he saw and heard in Sodom. Isn’t that an interesting point? Though Lot seems to have wanted to stay in Sodom, he knew what was happening there wasn’t right. He felt it in his soul.
Lot’s story does not end in Sodom.
He turned away from that and never looked back.
Just like us, friends.
Our lives before Christ may have been blemished. We may have had many stains, many mistakes, and things we’d cringe to have people find out about now.
But, God.
He came in and pulled us out. He saved us from where we were heading and gave us a new name. Like Lot, our stories didn’t end with our mistakes; they began there. We are not defined by what happened in Sodom.
I wonder if Lot ever spoke of what happened to him. If at parties, he would say, “Man, it was crazy! Thank God He brought me out!” I wonder if he shunned that part of his life. If he just wanted to forget about Sodom, forget about his mistakes.
It led me to wonder: Should we shun that part of our journey?
I don’t think we should. I don’t think we should gloat either. I had a friend who would say, “I only share how bad I was to show how good God is.” I believe that’s the attitude we should have. We never know who may relate to the gospel because of our story. God can use any, and every, part of our story.
Friend, if people are trying to convince you that you’re no different now than you used to be, if they continue to call you by your old name, pull back the curtain on your past, shame you- don’t allow it. Because friend, if Jesus is your Savior, you need only answer to your new name:
Righteous.
Redeemed.
Forgiven.
Saved.
Daughter of the King.
And you respond, “Thank You, Lord. That’s me!”
We may not be where we want to be yet. We still have hills to climb, sin to crush, deeper into the water to go but, we are learning. We are growing. We share, we serve. We praise God for how far we’ve come. And we keep moving forward in the grace and freedom He has given us. We are righteous. We are not looking back. We don’t answer to those calls to put us down because that’s not who we are anymore.
Friend, are you struggling with a less than perfect past? Guilt over something you have done? Pray that God would give you a revelation of who you are now in Christ. I pray you move forward from the past and into the wonderful plans he has for you!
