A Picture of Growing in Christ, Part 8 - Blessed to be a Blessing
March 24, 2022 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
In this series, I have been painting a picture of what a healthy, growing Chri
stian looks like. I created this graphic to help illustrate the commitments of a growing follower of Christ. The fountainhead is at the center, God’s grace poured into us through the ordinary means of the Word and sacrament. This flows into and invigorates personal commitments to the Word, prayer, and body fellowship throughout the week. These health-sustaining habits then flow into the outer ring of commitments. This third ring represents the commitment to be a blessing to others. Let me explain from Scripture how this is a commitment of healthy, growing Christians.
The phrase, blessed to be a blessing, comes from Genesis 12:2, where God promises to Abraham, “I will bless you so that you will be a blessing.” In many ways, Abraham is not only the father of all those who are justified by faith, as Romans 4:11-12 states, but he also is the model and example for God’s plans for the community of faith. God intends to extend his grace into the world through the covenant community. From the very beginning, the people of God had a mission from God to bless others. We praise God from whom all blessings flow, but we are never meant to be buckets, storing more and more grace for ourselves; God desires us to be conduits, channeling his grace to others. As long as we remain committed to the ordinary means of grace in our lives, we are never at threat of becoming empty.
We also see God’s will for each one of us to be a blessing to others in the New Testament. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul says we are God’s workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” And Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that the Word of God is “profitable” so that the person of God “may be complete, equipped for every good work.” These “good works” that Paul writes about are both the growth in godliness and the service of others. Peter highlights the same idea when he says, God’s “divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). And then, after listing some qualities of godliness, Peter says, “if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8). Effectiveness and fruitfulness for the gospel are related to the impact of the gospel in other people’s lives. God’s grace in our lives naturally brings us to serve others.
Finally, there are a variety of ways to bless others. Consider what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Did you catch that last statement? Every follower of Christ has been given a spiritual gift for the common good. Even spiritual gifts are for the benefit of others. And every believer has received such a gift. Paul’s other point here in 1 Corinthians 12 is that there are varieties of gifts and activities. You and I will not bless others in the same manner. In addition to the variety of gifts, I would include varieties of passions, abilities, personalities, and experiences. We are each uniquely God’s workmanship; he has specific good works prepared beforehand for each of us to do. This is the beauty of the body of Christ. We are united in our commitment to the ordinary means of grace; we are scattered in our active service of others.
So, what does it look like for you to bless others? The outer circle in my graphic is not exhaustive. Each of us have the responsibility to seek out how God wants to use us to bless others. How has God uniquely equipped or gifted you? How might God use the experiences of your life to serve and bless others? What are you passionate about? What station in life do you hold? If you are married, how does God want you to bless your spouse? If you have children, how can you serve them? If you are employed, how can you bless others in your place of employment? How might God want you to bless those in your neighborhood? The list can go on. The point is that God wants us to live every day with the mindset that we are where we are in order to bless others.
