Chris' Christian Blog

February 27, 2021

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Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:35-40 that the second greatest commandment is to love our fellow man as much as we love ourselves. What does that mean?

Love is misunderstood in society today. Part of the misunderstanding may come from the fact that we only have one English word for love and that word has various meanings understood only by the context in which it is used. Wuest reports that Greek on the other hand had four words for love. These were "eran, stergein, philein, and agapan." Each had a different meaning. "Eran" meant physical love or the act of love making or sex. "Stergein" means "kindly affection" or "natural affection" such as the "I like this person type of attraction. "Philein" means brotherly love and the City of Philadelphia derives its name from it. The fourth type of love is "agapan" often spelled "agapao". See footnote. It refers to an unconditional love that puts the needs of others ahead of one's own needs. It was "agapan" that Jesus used in this passage and it means that Jesus expects believers to always put the needs of others ahead of our needs. Do you want to be truly happy? The key to contentment I have found is living an "other-centered" life. I am happy when I can serve others. I am a preacher and I spend a great deal of time preparing sermons or studying the Bible. That's because God comes first. The remainder of my time is spent doing for others. It may be something as simple as opening the housekeeping closet and preparing a bucket of water so somebody can mop their floor. It could also be something as complicated as preparing a PowerPoint presentation and delivering the free classes I give every Thursday afternoon in the Recreation auditorium here at the facility I live in during a group I call Vets Helping Vets. Right now I am teaching on active listening. I spend about twenty minutes discussing the various aspects of active listening. Then I divide the group into small groups of two and we practice the technique we just learned.

What it all means is that Jesus is telling us that "agapan" love is a serving love. It is not self-serving and never, ever thinks of itself. It is always looking for opportunities to serve others. Service is what we are made for. We were not created to be selfish and place our needs first. Augustine and Luther used the Latin term "homo in curvatus" to describe the human condition after the fall. Basically it means that our eyes got turned around backward in our hearts and all we can see is ourselves. We were not made to be self-centered. When we act only in our own best interest it creates anxiety in us because we are going against nature. To be truly blessed and happy we need to serve others with our whole being. I am always blessed when I serve others. Preaching on Sunday morning and presenting the lecture on Thursday afternoons is work. It can be tiring. Yet the rewards of getting outside of myself and meeting the needs of others is outstanding. I need no pay except the blessing I get from God who always smiles and says "Well done, good and faithful servant."

I may not hear those words audibly but they are spoken in my heart.

I declare that I remember sending out a prompt last night, but this morning I cannot find it. I guess I just dreamed it or something. Anyhoo, lol, today I found a superstar. This star is not only a physically very beautiful lady, but charming and kind-hearted as well. She also likes Star Trek, which makes her a 10 in my eyes. Please give your opinion of

FORUM

Star Trek Message Forum  (ASR) Welcome Trekkers. Have a cup of Klingon Raktajino, and enjoy our friendly Starbase. #420688 by Maryann

by Maryann and review it if you would.

First of all, let me say that you want to be careful with that Klingnon Raktajino. The only thing harder is Romulun ale. Both of them are cleaners. They clean your pipes while at the same time cleaning your plow!

I always liked Star Trek. I did not know this forum existed until I bumped into it today. I guess I should have though. Maryann has been a superstar on WDC for a long time. She is always active with her group. I'd love to recruit her for

FORUM

Space Blog  (ASR) Cruising WDC cyberspace and raiding ports for blog prompts! #2223838 by Sharmelle'sThankfulExpressions

Hint? Hint? lol

Star Trek was the first science fiction show I ever watched. I was not allowed to watch it often as a child because my dad hated it. We also had an old antenna system that usually did not get the channel. When the wind blew just right though we would pick it up and Dad would tolerate my watching it. It always fascinated me. I will try to frequent the Star Trek forum though I make no promises. I will forget it in five minutes.

Prompt: "This was our first month of trying something different in BCoF. How did you do? What keeps you blogging or not blogging? What do you see your blog as... is it a writing warmup, a place to store memories, poems, prayers, daily events?"

I think I did okay. There were a few days that I simply could not blog because the Internet was down. Then I missed one or two days because Of doctor's appointments. I live at the West Virginia Veterans Home in Barboursville WV where I am also the chaplain, a floor leader, and peer support specialist. So I have times when I get extremely busy and have to cut corners. Sometimes even my own forums and groups are left incomplete. However, I am committed to this group and I love to blog when time permits. I have blogged every day I possibly could, even if it was only a few words.

Why do I blog? I usually blog because I find the prompt provocative or challenging. I love to write. I have a lot of people who are not yet members of WDC who follow my blog here. I occasionally post a link to it on social media and other sites and that brings readers. Now I am self-publishing a book using www.readersmagnet.com self-publishing company and I have followers from there who encourage me to continue blogging here because they enjoy reading my work. I have to admit, when I first heard of Readers Magnet I was a bit apprehensive. I thought they were a scam. After researching them, I found that the one complaint they had lodged with the Better Business Bureau was more a misunderstanding than a complaint and they are a legitimate business. I blog however, because I enjoy blogging. I have a gift for words and grammar. English, Reading, Writing, and any other subject associated with words were my strong point in elementary school, high school, and college. Now in seminary I am making straight As because it is writing intensive. I was given a gift to understand grammar and words. Spelling Bees were always my favorite contests because I typically placed high in them. One of my teachers recognized my talent for words and had me copy a dictionary word for word, improving my vocabulary. I hated him for other reasons, but I love him for doing that. My vocabulary IQ has tested in the genius range due to the talent I have for words. So blogging comes naturally to me.

Prompt: "Tell us about your favorite room in your house."

My "house" is the Barboursville West Virginia Veterans Home. It is a 150 bed facility with several individual rooms and several multiple person rooms. God has blessed me by making me a floor leader. One of the perks of being floor leader is that you have an individual room. I was the only person in the biggest room in the entire complex when I became floor leader. It is actually a three man dorm room but since I am floor leader I have it all to myself. That works out great because it basically gives me double the space. Instead of having two wall lockers, I have the use of four wall lockers. Instead of having three small cabinets I have six. I also have two tables, one of which serves as my desk and a 32" flat screen television to attach to my computer via HDMI for a monitor. God has really blessed me. I thank Him every day for this place. It gave me companionship. It gave me a job and a purpose. Most of all, it gave me a home. Thank you, Jesus. I love you.