Editorial April 16, 1977 Issue

Guarding One's Good Name

Naomi Price

What's in a name? A great deal.

A good name is precious. More than an identification tag, in its fullest sense—and as the word is commonly used in the Bible—a name designates the entire individuality of a person: his character, capability, and the extent of his spiritual strength. It conjures up an entire portrait of the individual—not merely what he looks like physically, but what he mentally is, what he does, and how he does it; whether he is to be trusted or not; whether he is desirable as a friend or one to be avoided.

People normally want their names to be respected, and they always should be since, in truth, God gives to each of us a perfect identity, therefore a perfect character and a good name. But in the human realm there are those who, for nefarious purposes, sometimes aim to destroy or blacken a person's good name. When this occurs, that one may face serious injury—even though the allegations are unfounded. Denigrate a name and you denigrate a character, and in doing so you may be guilty of attempting to murder that individual's happiness and well-being. Indeed, it sometimes seems that more murders are secretly attempted today by words dipped in the venom of ill will and directed at people's good names, than by poison introduced into their bodies. But in the long run such crimes do not escape detection and punishment, for God is the supreme Lawgiver and Judge. He is never mocked.

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