IN THE NAME OF JESUS

When growing up, did your family ever tell you to “uphold the family name?” “uphold the honor of your family name.”? Indeed, dear friends, we are called to uphold our Lord’s name to reflect how God loves, honors, and saves us. We are called to uphold our Lord’s name with our orthodox faith and righteous living.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Holy be your name.” How do we make God’s name holy? It’s through our lives. We honor God’s name by what we do and how we live. But, our actions can also dishonor and tarnish it. Let’s uphold our family’s name, weave our church’s name honorably, and glorify our nation and God’s people.

I recall a friend sharing about his young daughter in elementary school. She’d come home daily with a watercolor painting. Besides her own name, she’d write the name of a loved one – often her mother or father, sometimes her brother Gevorg. “I made this for you,” she’d say proudly.

This brings to mind the words of St. Paul the Apostle, “Whatever you do… do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Colossians 3:17). If the young girl dedicated her schoolwork to her parents, we too can dedicate our actions to our Heavenly Father. Let’s proudly uphold His name, the name of Jesus Christ, who grants us eternal salvation. We should often ask ourselves if we have inscribed the name of our Lord on everything we’ve done today.

So, as we start this new year, let’s boldly write on the very first page of the yearbook of our lives, “I dedicate this to my Heavenly Father, My Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.”

Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan