Mary Kay and I have met with three other couples over the last several years, working through the Good and Beautiful series by James Bryan Smith (thanks, Marc Sundstrom). Smith does an excellent job at creating a process to live out some of Dallas Willard’s thoughts and writings on life transformation. In the second to the last chapter of his last book, The Good and Beautiful You, Smith suggests that each of us should reflect on the content and work of the previous books to seek God’s wisdom in being given a new name by God (Revelations 2.17). He challenges all of us to think of a name that God would choose for us, given who he desires us to be.
During the last two meetings, we identified each person to sit and listen as the others in the group spoke about how they see God manifesting his presence in their unique life. After about 15-20 minutes, the person shared what name they had chosen before our meeting.
I found it uncanny how, in all eight of our lives, the words that others in the group used to describe each of us were mostly synonyms for the name they had chosen. Our group has been through some very authentic and transparent moments in each of our lives, so there is great trust here. Each person took a turn to speak honestly to the unique creature that had been created in the other!
The eight names for these individuals were:
- Faithful
- Graceful
- Defender
- Worthy
- Sage
- Jubilant
- Servant
- Authentic
Note that there is great diversity among them, and yet each is an excellent descriptor of that person.
We all were touched. Let me suggest you find some people who know you well and whom you trust and try this.
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