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The famous line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, "What's in a name?" is a question asked to communicate the idea that a person's name does not count for much-what he or she does is what matters. This is quite true for human beings. I am sure you know evil people who go by the names Paul, Peter, John, Elizabeth, or Mary. People's names are usually labels that generally do not say much about the kind of person the bearer of the name is.

However, that's not the same for God. God's name defines who he is. According to Exodus 34:6-7, the name YHWH is exclusively the name of the God who is "the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation."

God's people keep themselves from profaning the name of God through obedience to him. We profane his name as his people when we do things that are different from the nature of the God we claim to serve.

The people of God honor his name when they are compassionate, slow to anger, loving toward people, and are faithful. We honor God's name when we forgive those who've wronged us. And we honor the name of God when we act justly toward people and fight for justice for the underprivileged.

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