The Names God Never Gave Me
Dear Readers,
During our weekly women’s Bible study, my sister asked a question that didn’t just land — it lingered.
“What name have you been answering to that God never gave you?”
At first, it sounded like a simple reflection. One of those pause-and-think-for-a-second questions.
But then, the room fell quiet.
And in the stillness, I realized: this was not a surface-level question. It was a soul-level one.
Because if we’re being honest, most of us have been answering to names we were never meant to carry.
We’ve been responding to labels given to us by pain, by people, by pressure.
We’ve accepted definitions that were born out of trauma, criticism, or comparison — and we’ve worn them like identity badges.
Names like:
“Too much”
“Not enough”
“Unlovable”
“Broken”
“Invisible”
“Second best”
“Too late”
These names don’t always scream — sometimes they whisper.
Sometimes they come in the form of silence, like being overlooked or dismissed.
Sometimes they come from our own voice — shaped by years of rehearsed doubt.
But here’s what I know to be true:
If God didn’t name you that, you don’t have to answer to it.
God has always been in the business of renaming and redefining.
He changed Abram to Abraham — father of many nations.
He changed Sarai to Sarah — not just “my princess” but mother of nations.
He changed Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul.
Every name change marked a shift — not just in what they were called, but in who they were becoming.
And yet… when I first heard my sister ask that question, I didn’t have a clear answer.
It was almost like my mind said, “Hmm. I’m not sure.”
But then it came back to me — again and again — throughout the day.
“What name have you been answering to that God never gave you?”
And that’s when it hit.
I didn’t have just one name. I had many.
Names I picked up out of survival.
Names I inherited from wounds.
Names I allowed to define me even when they didn’t align with God’s word.
This question doesn’t ask for a fast response.
It asks for an honest one.
It asks us to pause.
To sit with it.
To let the Holy Spirit gently peel back layers we’ve hidden under.
Because you might say, “I don’t know,” at first…
But the more you lean in, the more you’ll realize how many names you’ve been answering to — out of habit, out of hurt, or out of fear.
And when that happens — when the truth begins to rise — you’ll see just how many false identities you’ve carried.
But even more, you’ll realize the ones God has always had waiting for you.
Because God calls us:
Beloved (Romans 9:25)
Daughter (2 Corinthians 6:18)
Redeemed (Isaiah 43:1)
Chosen (1 Peter 2:9)
Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
More than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)
And one day, Revelation 2:17 says, He will give each of us a new name — one that only He knows. A name that can’t be tarnished by anyone else’s opinion or our own history.
So maybe today is the day we stop answering to:
“Not qualified”
“Too late”
“Unworthy”
And start answering to:
“Called.”
“Covered.”
“Chosen.”
Ask yourself gently:
What name have I been answering to that God never gave me?
Write it down.
Then write down what He does call you — and start answering to that instead.
With healing and honesty,
Just Catrina
