{"id":4612,"date":"2018-07-15T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2018-07-15T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=4612"},"modified":"2018-05-21T12:13:02","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T17:13:02","slug":"choose-to-honor-your-family-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=4612","title":{"rendered":"Choose to Honor Your Family Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yet Another Year of Choices<\/em><\/p>\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n

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Our family name can give us a glimpse of who our ancestors were. For example, Irish names with an \u201cO\u201d or \u201cMac\u201d indicate the person is the son, grandson, or descendant of a certain family such as O\u2019Brian or MacDonald. A family name can tell what your family\u2019s occupation might have been such as Miller, Cooper, Smith, or Shoemaker. Today, names do not have much significance other than designating one person from another.<\/p>\n

This was not the case in biblical times. In fact, the word \u201cname\u201d in the Old Testament actually stands for \u201ca mark or a brand.\u201d In other words, the name would reflect who a person was. For example, Adam means \u201cman.\u201d Eve means \u201cmother of all living.\u201d Esau means \u201chairy\u201d because he was hairy when he was born. Jacob means \u201cheel catcher\u201d because he was Esau\u2019s twin, but Esau was born first.<\/p>\n

When certain people developed a relationship with God, God changed their names to reflect that. Abram became Abraham which means \u201cfather of a multitude.\u201d Jacob was changed to Israel which means \u201cprince with God\u201d because God was going to use his lineage. Simon became Peter which means \u201crock\u201d because Jesus was going to use him to build the church upon.<\/p>\n

In a way, that\u2019s what happens to us when we recognize we are saved by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ and develop a relationship with Him. We are given a spiritual family name. We are called \u201cChristians.\u201d The name \u201cChristian\u201d was first given to the disciples in Antioch. (Acts 11:26) Have you ever wondered why? Did the disciples meet together and vote on what they should be called? Did the marketing team do a demographic study then send out a memo stating that henceforth and forevermore we shall be called Christians? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

These disciples were called Christians because they were defined by their actions. They were followers of Jesus Christ. Not only did they talk about Jesus, but they met together and were taught the scriptures. (Acts 11:20; Acts 11:26) Those who believed in Christ probably made certain positive changes in their lives. Others noticed this and gave them the name. It was the unbelievers who saw something different and special about this group of people, then called them Christians.<\/p>\n

I think today we have cheapened the definition of Christian a bit. Society loosely defines people as Christians just because they attend church on Easter and Christmas. Webster\u2019s defines a Christian as one who believes in Christ. On the surface this gives the impression one just needs to believe Christ existed. True Christians know better. Those who truly believe in Christ do much more than attend church twice a year. They realize they have been saved by Christ. They stand for the same principles Christ preached about. They sometimes suffer for righteousness\u2019s sake. They serve a living Christ. They love God and their neighbors. They hunger after God\u2019s Word. The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n

Consider this\u2026 What about us? Do we embrace Christ\u2019s teachings? Do we honor Him with our lives? Do others identify us with Christ \u2013 not because we are preaching and cramming Christ down their throats, but by how we live our lives? They should. After all, it is our family name.<\/p>\n

One final thought\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our name is our identity.<\/p>\n

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Yet Another Year of Choices By Barbara Dahlgren   Our family name can give us a glimpse of who our ancestors were. For example, Irish names with an \u201cO\u201d or \u201cMac\u201d indicate the person is the son, grandson, or descendant … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}