WHAT IS YOUR NAME? What is your name? What really is your name? Of course all of us were born and named primarily for identification and recognition and secondarily for purpose, wish and destiny. Especially in Africa, we do not just name people, the names have meanings. It’s actually tied to something, somewhere, an event or even divinity. Many African names has the almighty involved. And it’s about God doing something or being appreciated for something. Also we name people after older people we love, appreciate and would want to remember. We also name people on the account of their ancestral descent; your lineage may be known for some great achievement or title and you may be named after such title or ancestral achievement. We give names typically for identification, recognition and purpose. So I ask again this morning, what is your name. If a name is what you answer to, what you respond to what you believe identifies you, then maybe you should try think with me again this morning on your real name from the perspective of what a name is and what naming is about. Let me tell you something, your name is very powerful; people interpret and react to names based on reputation of the family or the individual. A name can be good or valuable; a name can be bad or shameful. So in essence, your name is not just about identification or recognition or purpose; it is also about perception and reputation. A good name they say, is better than silver and gold. Names open doors, names shut doors, some names attract prayers even from strangers and some names provoke curses even from relatives. Some names instill fear and insecurity; some names evoke hope, joy and comfort. It is impossible to bless you or hex you, curse you or praise you, bewitch you or pray for you without your name. Your name in essence is who you are. But I want to share something interesting with you this morning; do you know many people have several other names and answer to it without knowing it? If a name is what you respond to and answer to, then it means whatever you’re called and you respond to is actually who you are. What you chose to react to is actually the reality of your identity. Many people today have been renamed successfully, and because your name is who you are, you have been re-created, re-defined and repositioned by the situations or people that rename you based on their wish for you and impression about you. Maybe you still don’t get this, okay, let me explain. You see my name is Muyiwa Afolabi, that is what I am named and you see, the power of this name may just have been relegated over time to the level of identity only and that’s all. The meaning of my first name Muyiwa, is God brought this one, meaning I am God sent, hence all through my life, I ought to function as one sent by God in every way possible; then will I be functioning and fulfilling the essence and purpose of that name. My surname is Afolabi, meaning born carrying a wealthy destiny, to fulfil the purpose of my surname I can’t afford to be poor, I must be wealthy, not just rich but wealthy, riches is just personal financial and material success, wealth is all round prosperity meant to bless more people than just the possessor, my wealth is for everyone connected to me by blood or association. That is how powerful my name and surname is, I consistently endeavor to fulfil the meaning and declaration of my destiny by what I am named. But you see as I was growing up, many people in life and even situations in life have tried to rename me and recreate my identity and purpose. Friends, family, neighbour, teachers, classmates, colleagues, bosses, employers, employees, girl- friends, the environment, the society, even my background and my personal experiences have all at different times tried to change my name, re-define my purpose and my destiny. Let me give you an example; I was six years old, in primary school, primary one, very many years ago, we were asked by our teacher to recite a short poem he taught us a previous day. A few of my class mates were called out to recite it, they did it very well and the teacher asked the class to clap for them, the whole class did and these fellow pupils were excited and encouraged. Then it was my turn, he called me out, I was so confident, it was a short poem, I even liked the poem, I remember it very clearly, even today I can still recite it, its titled ‘old roger is dead and gone to his grave’; I knew and loved the poem, but immediately I stood in the front of the class and saw other pupils; all eyes were fixated on me, I can’t really tell what happened, I froze; I forgot the poem totally, I mixed up the lines; I couldn’t recite it. The whole class went quiet, the teacher was quiet, he kept looking at me, after a while realizing I couldn’t recite the poem, he told the class to boo me, and the whole class went boo, and some jeered and laughed at me and made fun of me, I felt stupid and daft, I was so embarrassed and ashamed of myself, and as I shamefully went back to my seat, some of my fellow pupils booed and made faces at me, some even pushed me and I went to my seat and began to cry. And that day, I lost every ounce of confidence in myself. I felt useless, ignorant dumb and inferior compared to other pupils. It immediately affected my academics, to my mind, I didn’t know anything, anything I was taught suddenly became too difficult for me to understand, I was so unsure of everything, I was too afraid of making mistakes, I didn’t want to be booed ever again, so out of fear, not ignorance, I kept making mistakes after mistakes and I became one of the worst pupils in my class. Im not one of those parents who lie to their kids they took first position all through their days in school, I didn’t, I was one of the worst pupils in my class. But by primary five, I got a lovely science teacher called Mrs. Onimisin, who paid special attention to me and made me know it was okay to make mistakes once the will to make corrections is in place. She restored my self-confidence and personal esteem, she treated me and related with me like her son, I wasn’t so good in her subject all the same she was kind and tender and nice to me, that’s why today I can confidently speak to millions of Nigerians on radio every weekday, in the morning and in the evening. What’s the moral of this story, I was renamed by an experience at age 5, primary 1, as dull, less than the rest, inferior and a failure, I believed it and responded to the experience, but was restored 4 years later by another teacher and that’s why I’m here today doing my stuff. Many of us today no longer respond to whom we really are; our original personality and potential; we don’t answer to our real and true names; we don’t answer to our true identity anymore, sadly, we answer and respond to what people, experience and our environment has called us and renamed us, unfortunately we’re manifesting the meaning of the new names we’re named. Dear friend, may I tell you this morning that you are actually what you answer to? What you respond or react to is who you now have become. When anyone calls you something and it gets to you and you react to it, it is a confirmation of who you now think you are, who you have become or who you agree you have become. Many people may call you lazy, no one is born lazy, but immediately you react to the name lazy either in anger or in agreement, your mind and psychic agrees to the new name and you automatically begin to manifest lazy traits. People name you confused, you react in anger or in concession and you really become confused, people name you poor, you agree and even confess and make statements like ‘why is the government not doing anything for us the poor?’ you’ve accepted the name, and of course the spirit and mentality of poverty would endorse you as a recognized member of the association of poor people. You’ve been named, proud, insecure; incompetent, a failure, inferior, a nobody and a none-entity, your reaction in anger or otherwise confirms you believe it is you being referred to because you react and respond to such names. Subsequently, your life takes on the mold and pattern of all these new, terrible names. Dear friend, you don’t react either in anger or concession to negative names; you ignore, it is not your name, it is not you they’re calling, so why answer to it? If your name is not Muyiwa Afolabi, you won’t respond if you hear the name. I have other names apart from what I was named my friends; I call myself greatness, glory, powerful, intelligent, successful, rich, wealthy, solution center, a king, brilliant, a lion, and an eagle, a blessed and favored man. I call myself, hardworking, disciplined, incorruptible, diligent, caring, loving, compassionate, kind, godly and healthy. That’s who I am, my mind agrees and I manifest all these lovely names. Dear friend, I ask again this morning, what is your name? What is your name
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 06:07:27 +0000