The slogan of your life

            In an effort to motivate myself in my never ending battle with co-dependent saddle bags and moon crater cellulite, I changed my hair, cut it short. It was almost as if I had bought a really great pair of shoes: I felt kind of sexy and pretty and thin – all that from a hair cut – does it tell you anything at all about my psyche?  I asked my sweet husband of 30 years, if my new hair cut made my face look thinner. No. No, in fact the new hair cut makes the entire me look bigger. What? After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, I explained to him, that maybe, in the future, if I ask if my face looks thinner he should just keep remarks focused to my face. I really wasn’t mad, just kind of shocked. And, this brings me to the subject of this column. Life  Slogans.

            My husband’s life slogan could be: Honesty – No matter the Cost. (Or, Open Mouth Insert Both Feet). Actually, if it were up to me his life slogan would be, Lance Wise Beyond Wonder, because he truly is the wisest man I know.( He just doesn’t engage the wisdom all the time.)

            My life slogan could be – Spoiler Nana, Right End of the Couch Warmer, or if I were referring to my hobby, SCUBA – Super Bouyant.  But, I want it to reflect a bigger portion of my life. A slogan that reflects what is important in my life.  Like God, Jesus, Family, love.

            Slogans are a vital part of advertising. See if you can match the following slogans with the company.

            Always low prices. Always.                            K-Mart

:               We’re With You                                                                   General Electric

                The Stuff of Life                                                                 Circuit City

                Good Life. Great Price.                                                       Microsoft

                Your potential. Our Passion.                                              Staples

If you are like most, the slogans don’t bring recollection of anything, because they are brand new. But, eventually, the hope is the public will identify with the brand when they hear the jingle or the slogan.  

Some slogans are just plain cumbersome – our local news station’s newest attempt is – “Your five day forecast. Plus five more days!” It just seems as if we’re trying too hard to find a fancy way of saying extended forecast.

In the writing world,  authors  brand themselves. Unlike days of long ago, when branding meant tossing a tied cow to the ground and searing his flesh with a red hot iron, this branding is simply a tag-line to the author’s name that identifies the type genre and style of the author. Here are some samples of author brands or tag-lines:

Nikki Arana – Writing With Fire                     

Liz Curtis Higgs - Encourager 

Dr. Harry Kraus- Cutting Edge Fiction

Brandilynn Collins – Don’t Forget to Breathe

DiAnn Mills – Writing on the Edge

Robin Lee Hatcher – From Her Heart to Yours

You know what to expect when you read their books by the words they’ve chosen to represent them.

We’ve talked about commercial slogans, author slogans, now let’s talk about missionary slogans.

Would you be able to claim any of these as your own?

"God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply" -- Hudson Taylor

"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him" -- Hudson Taylor

"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed" -- Hudson Taylor

"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God" -- William Carey, who is called the father of modern missions

"The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible" -- Ralph Winter, U.S. Center for World Mission

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." -- C.T. Studd

"This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!" -- Keith Green

"If God calls you to be a missionary, don't stoop to be a king" -- Jordan Groom

"No reserves. No retreats. No regrets" -- William Borden

"God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him." -- Hudson Taylor, missionary to China  

"Believers who have the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile, millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story." -- K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia Bible Societ

Ouch, don’t know about you but not many of those reflect my life.

So, what’s your life slogan going to be? Will it be something people can immediately identify with you? Could it go on your tombstone? What do you want people to remember about you? What impact do you want to make on your family, friends, strangers, the world? 

Do you have a personal mission statement? If not make one. This is a life goal. Something you want to work towards every single day.

What’s your life verse? Don’t have one? Get one. Some men who might chose that John 3:33,– Jesus Wept as their life verse, simply to remind them it’s okay to melt your macho wall with some waterworks every now and then.

Now it’s time to write your slogan.

Think about your mission statement, your life verse, who you want to affect, and what you offer. Write your slogan – make it easy enough to remember and challenging enough your faith muscles are continually stretched as you strive to fulfill the promise of your words.