As one reads the epistles of Paul the Apostle, it is easy to see that he crossed paths with many different individuals. Some of these individuals, it would seem, were a great hindrance to his work for the Lord, 2 Tim. 2:14; Phil. 1:16; 1 Tim. 1:19-20. However, most of the people Paul met were a great blessing to his life and ministry. Paul closes nearly every one of his letters with a personal note to some of these very special people. In the last chapter of the book of Romans, Paul mentions at least 35 people by name! Contrary to the trend in our modern society, Paul was a man who made friends as he traveled through life. Too many in our day want to isolate and insulate themselves from others. In our text, Paul speaks about a man named Epaphroditus. This is a man about whom we know next to nothing! From his name, it would appear that he was a Greek and a Gentile. His name means “belonging to or favored by Aphrodite”. Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love. She was also the goddess of gamblers. The name Epaphroditus eventually came to mean “lovely or charming”. While we may not know much about brother Epaphroditus from history, the small amount of information Paul gives us, tells us much about this special man. His name means “lovely” and he was a man who lived up to his name.