Every person who has
accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour has become a carrier of His presence, a
carrier of His blessing. We are charged to pass it on. You are a blessed
person! Blessing is not based on feelings. Blessing isn't the state of your
bank account or street address. Blessing is vicariously given to you because of
your faith in Jesus. Regardless of your nationality, your skin colour, your
financial or health status, you are a blessed person. It has nothing to do with
what you see or feel, it is who you are because of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 11 is a
magnificent declaration of this fact as it highlights biblical heroes of faith
who simply believed God at His word. The Apostle Peter was addressing some of
the relational issues the new church was going through (husbands, wives, church
members) when he concluded with an address to all followers of Christ:
“To sum up, all of
you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;
not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead;
for you were called for the very purpose that
you might inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8-9).
Being a receiver and a
giver of blessing requires us to live a life of intentionality. Peter didn't
say that we are to live harmoniously when we feel like it or if the people we
are engaged with are nice to us. The very purpose for which we are family
members of the Father is to be a blessing, to pass on a blessing, that we may
inherit a blessing.
Peter says we are to be
sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted, humble in spirit, not returning evil for
evil or insult for insult. That requires me to be constantly living
intentionally. I’ve come to realise that blessings follow an intentional life.
Lots of things are easy
or automatic in the beginning. When you become a new Christian, everyone loves
you and welcomes you into the church. But the daily behaviour of a Christian
towards others requires focus, and it can be hard work. As the Bible says:
“If you love those
who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love
them” (Luke 6:32).
Without Christ we are
conditioned to live by our feelings, though as new creations in Christ we
should not slide back into simply behaving as we feel. If that were the case
then the world would never receive the blessings that the Father would
have us distribute to them. That requires a life of intentionality. Pastor
Wayne Cordeiro says it like this: “We
now live by what we know, no longer by what we feel.”
We need to cultivate
our love intentionally and build our faith intentionally. In a lifestyle of
intention we will realise our God given inheritance. Passing on a blessing to
the next generation is part of the responsibility of every follower of Christ.
There is real power (and fulfilment) found in giving away a blessing to someone
else.
Ps Jim Jung
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