We are brands! Each of us unique but with the same quality seal, we can’t afford to be confused with others. I thought about this a while ago drawing an analogy from the world of marketing. A brand is a name, phrase, or image used to identify a product or service with at least one perceived value attached to it. Brands are built over time based on a history of consistent value delivered to consumers. Imagine you saw a Coca-Cola employee, for example, a sales rep driving a company truck in a Pepsi t-shirt. How would you react? Or you saw Bill Gates using an iPhone or a Mac (there are no merger talks yet 🙂 ) on national TV? What happens when brands get muddled up – any impact on the bottom-line?
We, children of God, are brands painstakingly engineered by God through a process which started way before the world began. His R&D budget cost so much that it will never ever be equalled again. Built delicately and deliberately, our value is beyond anything quantifiable in business. We were bought with a price…the blood of Jesus. And now, we are redeemed to become precious citizens of Light, children of God, kings and priests – a whole kingdom where every citizen is nobility!
Like those brands we know and interact with everyday, we cannot afford to send the wrong statement to the people around us. We must come across as authentic – not fake; as pure quality, not a mishmash. Our sound must be clear and distinct, not to be confused. Our lives, our message must be plain for all to identify. People shouldn’t be left to guess, they shouldn’t have the opportunity or privilege of available options when trying to place who we are, plus what we stand for. Our lives should be plain and clear: we are for God and for everything that pertains to righteousness. Question: Is it obvious to all who I am…what I stand for?
A brand’s value may wane over time, its reason for distinction may become lost. But its creator knows what to do. Like many brands before me human and man-made, I have had to be ‘relaunched’ a couple of times. Perhaps, today is such a time. Think you need a relaunch, too? Let us commit our lives to Him all over again. He will mould and help us because we are the work of His hands. He knows what to do. Let us always remember that we are by grace. Our value, our freedom, our fulfilment and success are honours conferred on us by His grace. God is able to keep us as we stay committed to Him. We will not be polluted, desecrated, or degraded. We are His brands.
