Beloved.

I read in the news today that more than 285 Indian girls whose names mean "unwanted" have chosen new names for a fresh start in life.  They were given names like "Nakusa" or "Nakushi," which mean "unwanted" in Hindi, because families often go into debt arranging marriages and paying for elaborate dowries. A boy, on the other hand, will one day bring home a bride and dowry. Hindu custom also dictates that only sons can light their parents' funeral pyres.

Activists say the name "unwanted," which is widely given to girls across India, gives them the feeling they are worthless and a burden.  "When the child thinks about it, you know, 'My mom, my dad, and all my relatives and society call me unwanted,' she will feel very bad and depressed," said Sudha Kankaria of the organization Save the Girl Child.  Some girls chose to name themselves after Bollywood stars such as "Aishwarya" or Hindu goddesses like "Savitri." Some just wanted traditional names with happier meanings, such as "Vaishali," or "prosperous, beautiful and good."  (read the full article here)

Wow.  Can you imagine being called unwanted each and every day of your life?  How terrible!  Moreover, can you imagine being a parent, looking at your little baby, and say, "You are Unwanted!"?  unbelievable.  
But how amazing is it that a girl who went by the moniker Unwanted for a decade is now known as Beautiful or Prosperous or Good?  Talk about a new lease on life!  To be called Beautiful each and every day must feel good.  To be called Good makes us feel good.  To be called Prosperous ignites the fire to continue to work hard.  There is power in our names.

I couldn't help but think of this in Biblical terms.  God has much to say about our names.  There are several lists of names throughout scripture.  God gave Adam and Eve their names directly, and instructed the parents of Ishmael and Issac, John the Baptist, and Jesus (among others), to give their children their respective names.   The names of Jacob's sons are really painful.  Leah was quite the unappreciated housewife it seems.  A sampling:

She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”

“Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.  

“Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi

“I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.

“What good fortune!” So she named him Gad. (I like that one!)


“How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.


“God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.


“God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.

The One, who when Samson's dad asked what His name was responded with, "It is beyond understanding" is also in the business of re-naming folks.  He gave new names to Abram and Sarai, Jacob, and Saul.  But He also gives us new names. 
We were never Unwanted, per se, but we were Doomed, Empty, Broken, Lost, Hopeless, Chaotic, Wandering, and Enemy, to name a few.  We didn't get to chose our new name, however.  This re-branding was all God.  He had mercy on us and sent His Son to do what we could never do. He gave hope to Hopeless, brought Enemy into His fold, made straight the path of Wondering and Lost, healed Broken, calmed Chaotic, overfilled Empty, and saved Doomed.  By grace through faith we have dropped the undesirable names that Satan himself has given us and instead we have all been given one simple, powerful, mind-blowing, life-altering name by our loving Creator.  

He calls us, Beloved.

Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Hosea says that God will, "call nobodies and make them somebodies; I'll call the unloved and make them beloved."  

We have a new name!  Just like the girls in India are no longer Unwanted, we are no longer Unloved.  We are Beloved.  I need to be reminded of that so often.  I shamefully forget that I am washed in the blood of the Lamb, and God no longer sees my shortcomings, but rather He sees my Savior.  I forget that sometimes and I live like Wandering instead of Beloved.  Forgive me Lord.  Thank you for making me Beloved, not because I earned or deserve it in the least, but because you are love, and you bestowed your love upon me through your perfect Son.  Let me never forget my name, Lord.  Let me always live as Beloved.