Our brand, our value, our experiences will either crush us or lift us up. Who or what gives us value makes all the difference in the world.

Everybody is wildly interested in the topic of “personal brand.” Whether it’s at a large gathering or a one-on-one connection, personal brand is front and center. If there’s a presentation, one of the very first slides talk about personal brand.

When it comes to defining our personal brand, they are all over the place. Depending on the consultant and how much they charge, the definitions can be short or very, very, very long. There’s the 3 C’s, 4 C’s, 4 P’s, 5 C’s, 5 P’s, six types and seven pillars of defining your personal brand to name a few. Here’s my favorite.

“The intentional, strategic practice of defining and expressing your value.”

Jill Avery – Harvard Business School

I really like this definition because it clearly tells us that there is nothing accidental about our brand. It’s intentional and deliberate. There’s a reason behind it. It’s focused on a target so that something greater can be achieved.

There’s nothing “one and done” about a personal brand either. It’s practiced over and over again. It’s also not silent. You don’t sit around behind a desk with your brand and say, “Wow. I’ve got this great brand. I’ll just sit here and wait for the multitudes of people and opportunities to flood in.”

When it comes to our personal brand, there’s nothing passive about it. You’ve got to get out there and share it. Yes, you prepare, but there’s no substitute for trying. You try and fail. Learn from your first feeble attempts. Adjust. Try again. Fail again. Tweak again.

And what’s the goal of your brand? What is your brand going to achieve? Why is it so important that you’ll go through all the time, energy, money, and effort to perfect it? What’s the message of the brand that’s going to turn the world upside down? That’s going to change everything about you, your life, and the lives of the people who hear and see you? It’s one word.

Value.

Brand says you have value. But it’s more than that. Not only do you have value, but your value is unique. There will be lots and lots of people out there that might say the same words and claim the same things. But your brand stands alone and says that you’ve got the secret sauce that separates you from the crowd. That you can do something that no one else on planet earth can.

So, what’s our personal brand? What makes us unique? What’s our value? Where do we find those things that separate us from the pack? What makes us that one-in-a-million that God wants to use to change the lives of the people we come in contact with?

Before we look at what our brand is before God, we need to know what it isn’t. It’s not how smart we are. How God has gifted you with intelligence. It has nothing to do with strength or skills. It’s not how far you’ve climbed up the ladder of success. It’s not how many letters come after your name either.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with any of these things. God has certainly invested hugely into you. He may have given these things and more to you. But they aren’t the story. They’re not your goal. They are not your purpose. They are not your brand. Your brand comes from someplace different. Someplace deeper.

Your brand is the mark of ownership that God has put on you. Like cowboy’s brand their cattle to show who they belong to, God has purposefully put His brand on you. Marked you as His own. He identifies you as His for all the world to see.

for I bear the marks of Jesus branded on my body.

Galatians 6:17

Funny thing about a brand is that it’s a scar. Yes, there was injury. Yes, the way we were made has changed once and for all. Yes, there was pain that didn’t just stop, but went on for a while. Yes, we can still look at the brand and be reminded of that excruciating experience.

But over time there has been some healing. And that healing leaves behind something that’s tougher than what was originally there. The scar is a visible reminder of what you’ve been through. Where you’ve been. What happened to you.

Now for the hard part. The brand and scars are not there by accident. They are not the random acts of someone who’s lost their mind. The brand didn’t just happen when someone came gunning for you. It wasn’t just the forces of evil bringing destruction and devastation to you. God’s brand is so much more than the result of a surgeon’s knife.

The brand, the scars, the marks are absolute proof of God’s ownership. That’s right. Look at the physical scars you have – they are God’s brand on you. Showing the world that you belong to Him and Him alone. That you were paid for once-and-for-all by Jesus Christ on the cross.

for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:20

While our culture, influencers, advertisers, and the internet scream that you can be totally healed and hide your physical scars, God has something different in mind. He has a higher purpose for those marks. For His brand.

The brand that God has given you are His marks of ownership. They remind us that we are His and He is ours. That He has never left us or forsaken us. That His hands have been all over our lives. God’s brand also says that He’s got bigger things in mind.

God’s brand on us also tells a watching world that He has personal interest in our lives. There was no mistake in all that happened. His brand can be used to bring others to the Savior. God wants to use His brand in our lives to melt the hearts of many. To bring them to faith in Jesus.

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.” Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”

John 20:27,28

I was having lunch with a married couple in an airport as we waited for our flight. There was nothing all that special about the day. The food was just airport food – you know what I mean. It also wasn’t out of the ordinary that we were waiting for yet another delayed flight.

Now these people were work friends, but I didn’t know them all that well. Yes, we worked together but that was about it. The conversation was friendly as we talked about the weather, the economy, sports. All the things that you talk about that really don’t mean anything.

Then all of a sudden, the husband says something that seemed to come out of left field. He started sharing about this deep wound in his life. I didn’t know what happened because he didn’t give any details. But whatever it was, it left a secret scar in him. As he spoke, his wife tenderly reached over and held his hand. Although he didn’t give any specifics, his pain was just so obvious.

I don’t know about you, but I feel just so helpless and inadequate at times like this. I just looked into his sorrowful eyes and listened. And as he was unloading his pain, God’s brand in my life awoke. The specifics of God’s brand were from a very painful, searing event in my own life. While I was trying to pay attention to this obviously broken guy, I’m having this shouting match in my head with God.

“Dear Jesus. Are you out of your mind? I can’t share this with these people. We don’t know each other that well. Not to mention that this subject is just one of those things you don’t talk about in mixed company. And in an airport of all places.”

And yet, I knew that I was on the losing side of this argument with God. So, the real question wasn’t whether or not I should speak, but if I was going to do what God wanted me to do or not. Was I was going to obey the one who died for me, or not? Even if following Jesus risked embarrassment and shame on a human level, would I follow Him?

I waited till there was a pause. After he hung his head and stopped talking, it was my turn. I gulped, took a deep breath, and shared my story. But instead of carefully hiding details like my friend, I screwed up my courage and just told the truth. I wasn’t trying to be shocking or crude, but I wanted him to know that I was his friend. That I sort of understood.

Slowly at first, my friend lifted his head. His wife stared at me as her jaw dropped to the floor. Their eyes were as big as saucers as I started to show them my deep and fiery brand that had been burned into my soul. My secret pain. My failure.

As I came to the end, my friend reached over and grabbed my hand. He said the words that I’ll remember for the rest of my days. “How did you know?” I said that I didn’t. But I know that we’re all broken. That we are all branded and scared by life. And as I’ve looked for answers, Jesus is the only one who not only knows about our pain but offers His forgiveness and power to live free.

Our relationship was never the same. There is openness and freedom to bring up just about anything. We’re very transparent with one another. And they clearly heard about how Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection “saved a wretch like me.”

If it was only physical brands, then life might not be too hard. But God also allows mental, emotional, and even spiritual scars in our lives. He uses them to brand us, making us more into the image of Christ Himself.

Now I have no idea what kind of brand God has brought into your life. I also have nothing to say about the deep pain that was caused. And the people who jammed that burning brand into us are still responsible for what they did. For what they said.

Yes, the brand is the brand. God is the God of His brand. He uses anything and everything to bring glory to Himself. To bring many to Himself through Jesus. Even through our pain. Even through our suffering. Especially through His brand in our life.

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This is an excerpt from Chet’s upcoming book, ServeLife^® – God’s loving and perfect plan for all His children is to live “Crusty Lives” of significance, meaning, and purpose.

People who positively respond to Chet Gladkowski, deeply love their grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He writes from a very practical, daily living standpoint. Everything he writes points us to Jesus, the one who died for us. Each calls us to please the one who first loved us. He serves through www.ChetGlad.org where his blogs and Bible teachings can be found in text and audio. His new book, “HOPE is the Key – Living Through God’s Superpower”  and his brand new book coming out, ServeLife^®.

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