Genesis 12:2 NLT
“I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
That was God’s promise to Abraham, right in the beginning pages of the Bible. God promised to bless Abraham and to subsequently make him a blessing to others. That was precisely the goal and the call of Abraham’s life: to be a blessing to all the families on earth.
That is the calling we have inherited from Abraham when we got saved and were born into the spiritual Israel, the church, to be a blessing to everyone we come across. And the primary tool God has given us for blessing someone is our tongue.
Define Blessing
Jesus began His teaching ministry on the earth with a series of blessings in the book of Mathew 5:3-12. And Jesus called the ones that are poor in spirit, the ones who mourn, the meek, they that hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the peacemakers, the pure in heart and the ones who are persecuted for righteousness as the blessed ones.
God’s definition of blessing is different from how we define blessing. Under the old covenant blessing was merely limited to physical and more visible entities. However, under the new covenant God brought a much more deeper perspective of blessing. The standards in the new covenant involve more of the condition of the heart, not just the state of the pocket.
So remember that when you are blessing someone else, you are not just blessing them according to the standard in the old covenant but also the new.
Who Can?
Hebrews 7:7 NLT
And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.
The Bible says, the one who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is being blessed. Does it means youngsters cannot bless elders? Not at all, because the power and the authority of blessing is still God. When we bless someone, we don’t do that in the power we have. But instead we bless them in the power that God has given us. In fact that’s how we bless the Lord Himself. It isn’t because we have anything that God doesn’t. Instead, the fact that God has breathed His Spirit upon us qualifies us to bless and exalt the name of the Lord and to speak the blessing of God in the name of Jesus over the people around us.
Why Bless?
In the Old Testament days, the priests had the responsibility to bless the people like this:
Numbers 6:24-27 KJV
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
In the New Testament every born again believer is a priest. (1 Peter 2:9) And hence it technically becomes our calling to bless the people that God has placed around us. The scripture above says that the priests should put God’s name upon the people and that God will bless them! That’s a humungous responsibility. It’s a privilege we have received from the Lord to speak his name over his children, and we should take it seriously by continually doing it.
Whom to Bless?
Everyone, literally.
Here are a few scriptures from New Testament out of the many you would find throughout the bible, again emphasising the point that the great calling of a believer is to bless!
You should bless:
– Every home you enter. (Matthew 10:12)
– The person that knows and receives Salvation (Matthew 16:17)
– The one who hear, believe and practice God’s word. (Luke 1:45, 11:28, John 13:17, 20:29)
– Those who generous in their giving. (Acts 20:35, Hebrews 7:6)
– Those who are confident in the Lord about what they are doing. (Romans 14:32)
– Children you come across. (Matthew 19:15)
– Parents of newborn children. (Luke 2:34)
– Pregnant women that visit you or you visit or meet. (Luke 1:42)
– While sending off someone. (Acts 15:33, 1 Cor 16:11)
– Those who persecute you. (Romans 12:14)
– Those who insult you. (1 Peter 3:9)
– Those who curse you. (Luke 6:28, 1 Cor 4:12)
You don’t need a particular reason to bless someone, but keep on the lookout for an opportunity and practice the culture of blessing people who come in contact with you.
The Curser’s Blessing
James 3:9-12 NLT
Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.
The bible declares that you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring. In other words, it you have a habit of cursing people or/and using foul language or abusive words, you would inevitably lose your right to bless people. Because at the source of that blessing should be the heart of God, which is what is missing if you have a culture of being abusive and foolish with your words. To study more about the kind of problems in our talking and patterns of speech we should avoid, read the first five posts of this series, and it will give you a better insight on how and why your blessing is not valid if you have been practicing cursing.
The Prophetic Blessing
In the Old Testament there used to be a practice of parents blessing their children. There are many instances where they weren’t merely a general blessing, but one of a prophetic nature, where the blesser is declaring God’s heart with specific details over the receiver’s futures. One of the most profound of these blessings is the one of Jacob blessing his twelve children, who were the forefathers of the 12 tribes of later Israel nation. There are other instances when prophets do that over the Kings they had appointed over the nation.
It is one thing to bless people based on scriptures and goodwill, and a different thing to bless people prophetically. Whenever someone submits to your spiritual authority or your mentorship, God would give you access to and glimpses into their future, so you can prophetically declare it over their future. That is also a way of blessing, like the parents blessed their children and prophets blessed their kings.
So, listen intently to the Holy Spirit’s voice when blessing someone, so it will not just be a good wish or desire you have for them but a prophetic blessing that you are declaring over them!
Did you find this post helpful? If yes, please share with us, what God specifically taught you and spoke to you. We will be praying for you and declaring God’s blessings over your life!
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