I’m Paul, by the way… Names are important, they help to define us. How many times have you heard someone’s name, but never have seen them. Based on the name we get an image of what they should look like. I am sure many of you have an idea what I look like based on my name and what I write about. Some may think I am tall and skinny with tons of my own kids running around, others may see me as meek and mild with one kid who is a spoiled rotten brat. Yet some may see me as a large man with a jolly face and no kids. The list can go on and on but I think you get the idea.
It seems to me God was that way, he gave names to everything and every name had a meaning. Names, in the Old Testament, had meanings. Some of them very deep meanings, others a little less, but still the meaning was known by all who heard it. We see in the bible several examples of God or Jesus changing the name of someone. Simon becomes Peter; Saul becomes Paul and so on. The name change is important, it represents new birth, from who you where to who you are to become.
We take our names very seriously; we get upset if someone doesn’t know our name. To us, our names 
define us, make us somebody. It gives us life.
What the first question you ask when somebody has a baby, “What did you name her/him?” We want to define them, to know them. The name tells us something about them.
How many times have you meet someone and the just fit them, you look at them and say “They look like a Sue/Dave”. We attach certain characteristics to names; Butch in a tough name, Melvin is a nerdy name and so on. We create personalities to them, and sometimes we are dead wrong and other times dead on.
Do you live up to your name? Do you represent the meaning? Have you ever looked up the origians of your name, the original meaning?
PAUL
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Romanian, Biblical
Pronounced: PAWL (English), POL (French), POWL (German) [key]
From the Roman family name Paulus, which meant “small” or “humble” in Latin. Saint Paul was an important leader of the early Christian church, his story told in Acts in the New Testament. He was originally named Saul, but changed his name after converting to Christianity. Most of the epistles in the New Testament were authored by him.
Due to the renown of Saint Paul the name became common among early Christians, being borne by a number of other early saints and six popes. In England it was relatively rare during the Middle Ages, but became more frequent beginning in the 17th century. A notable bearer was the American Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere (1735-1818), who warned of the advance of the British army. Famous bearers in the art world include the French impressionists Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), and the Swiss expressionist Paul Klee (1879-1940). This is also the name of the legendary American lumberjack Paul Bunyan.
Check it out; see if your name fits you…
Now some would say I am neither small nor humble, but regardless that’s what the name means. I can say for a fact that I may not be the most humble person on earth, but I try.
It is a great disappointment when we finally meet someone whom we have known by name only and they do not stack up to the image we have created for them. We have this image of someone and they have the nerve to be who they are, and not who we wish them to be.
Names are a mighty powerful thing….
Paul
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View Point: Paul 