Branded.
Not like cattle.
As a graphic designer, part of my job is to create and strengthen branding. I used to be known for degrading brands: messing with logos and changing colors to suit my personal taste. I was a brand demolisher. A rule breaker because...I felt like it.
But then I was tasked to one team as the only designer. All of a sudden, I became protective of our particular brands, wanting to develop their looks and recognizability. I now had skin in the game. As much as it depended on me, I was going to do everything I could to help that brand to succeed.
I prayed over the Marketing team and their results. I prayed over my own design skills—that they would be far above the rest. I prayed for the new designer who would eventually join our team, that we would work harmoniously together, have exponential creativity, and take the brand to an entirely new level.
If you're a believer, you have a brand. But do you have buy-in?
Numbers 6:27 says, "So they shall put My Name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them."
Let me get technical now, because some people don’t believe the character of God exists today. They believe it was only for Israel. But God says that we are Abraham’s offspring if we are believers in Jesus.
So with that being said, you have a brand of blessing.
Every time you witness, you strengthen your brand.
Every time you love.
Every time you serve.
Every time you give.
You can degrade your brand too, bringing shame to His Name. It matters how we live.
Unbelievers don’t like to be judged, but they sure don’t mind judging us. But understand where the judgment comes from: they know instinctively what our lives as Jesus-followers are supposed to look like. When we live against the Word of God, that’s tampering with the logo, look and feel. That’s the same as degrading the brand, but worse.
When you strengthen the brand, it automatically becomes more attractive to everyone who sees it. A clear message, even if they don't want to buy from you, lets others know what you're about.
God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to bless the People of Israel. Say to them,
God bless you and keep you,
God smile on you and gift you,
God look you full in the face and make you prosper.
In so doing, they will place My Name on the People of Israel—I will confirm it by blessing them.”
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/num.6.22-27.NIV
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.