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There was a time when meeting new parents, they would ask, who are your people?

The family name speaks for a person’s background.

Coming up as a child, my grandfather would let me know that my first name was given to me through a selection process. My last name, I was born into.

He would remind me when I would do something less than honorable, Demetrius belongs to you, but as long as I’m living, Moffett belongs to me, don’t mess it up.

My grandfather passed on, and my father picked up the slogan, as long as I live Moffett belongs to me, don’t mess it up. My father passed and the weight of caring for the name fell to me.

I truly understood now what they meant. They had built a name in the community that brought honor and respect to the family because of the name.

The Wisdom Writer says “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.” Proverbs 22:1 (NKJV)

What good is it to have riches and having a poor name?

In building a solid family foundation, men are aware of the attributes of their family name. They look to build respect for it.

The difference between males and men is males are so set on being an individual, a first name that they don’t realize the damage they are doing to those who are in their lineage, carrying their last name.

Men are the polar opposite. Men give thought to every decision they make as to how this will impact family. How will this impact the name, my name, the family name?

We don’t have to look far to see this valuable principle. We name buildings after people, streets after people, parks after people, awards after people and even national holidays after people.

The common denominator is “value” that comes with a name. The questions that I would like to pose are:

Based on the name we’re cultivating, what would our name go on?

Would our name open a door for our lineage?

Would our name be linked to prosperity or poverty?

How much value comes with our name?

In building a solid family foundation, men we need to promote the principle and practice of honoring the family name to being an honorable family name.

Pastor De’mo Moffett, MSM, BSCJ is the senior pastor at Orange Church of God-Embassy of Grace. Email him at pastordemomoffett@gmail.com.