Don’t leave Free Zone
Remember when we were children playing hide-and-go-seek or tag? We liked to
play at night when it was hard to see who was who. One of the rules is that
there is a tree known as the Free Zone. Anybody touching this particular tree is
not subject to being tagged. After awhile the game becomes boring because
everyone is clinging to that Free Zone tree. The one who is "it" then tries to
convince the others who are hanging onto the tree that it is not really a Free
Zone. If he can just persuade them to leave the Free Zone, he can tag them and
then they become "it."
The same thing is true with our name. If they can persuade us to walk away
from our God-given name, then we abandon property that is ours, for our name is
property. If we abandon that property, it is no longer ours. We are not talking
about whether other people accept or believe that you have a new name. The
belief must reside within you. It is most critical that you believe the new name
is yours. If you don’t believe it, then don’t expect anyone else to believe you
have a new name.
You probably will need to politely correct people who insist on calling you
by your old state name. Gradually they’ll become used to your new name - if you
keep reminding them. If you have children and explain your new name to them,
they will help everyone else remember to call you by your new name. My wife and
I had been married 14 years when we received new names. Old habits are difficult
to change. But our four year old daughter eagerly accepted the task of letting
us know when we slipped up by using the old names. Her vigilance helped us
quickly change over to the new names.
[ Back ] [ Up ] [ Next ]
|