Part 2: A Purposeful Blessing

In my last post, I stressed the importance of speaking a blessing, on purpose, into the lives, or over the lives of your loved ones.  God is quite specific about the importance of blessing others. 

Everyone, deep down, loves to hear–out loud–good things about themselves or positive things we believe for them.  We plant seeds of confidence into fertile heart-soil for these individuals.  We can often, literally, “set them free” to follow hard after those God-given dreams and desires burning in their hearts. Your blessing doesn’t have to be elaborate.  Often times, a sincere and simple blessing takes root just perfectly in a heart thirsty to know it matters.  If you see a physical characteristic or a quality in an individual that you realize you are quietly admiring, speak that out loud to them.

I remember the time I mentioned to a student in a middle-school class that I thought she had beautiful hands and fingernails.  She stood straighter for the rest of the day and sported shy little “thank you” smiles each time I saw her.  Telling someone you appreciate the way they can forgive or spread joy opens a path for them to venture out to forgive even more and share more joy.  Simply saying, “I’m thankful I got to spend time with you today. You made me smile,” is a wonderful spoken blessing.  It helps lift away the myriad of unseen conflicts that we secretly carry throughout our day.

If you want to deliver a positive message about someone’s future, pray first.  Ask God to give you a sense of His desire for this individual–child or adult.  Jeremiah 29:11, reminds us that God has plans for our lives and they were laid in place before we were even born. (Psalm 139: 16-18) Once you get an idea of God’s thoughts toward your loved one, most often based on His Word, speak them out loud with conviction.  Our God has good things planned for those who love Him
(1 Corinthians 2:9) and He is particularly fond of our little children. (Matthew 19:14)

Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus gave a good example of a blessing in 1 Thessalonians 2:3: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;  Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” Paul told the people they were worthy and then gave specific examples.  Don’t hold back.  Make a difference by speaking a purposeful blessing into another life.

Who can you bless, specifically and out loud, today?  Take the challenge to bless each one of your children daily.  Try it with a co-worker, too.