FRIDAY
Finally, this week we come to how we ought to speak blessing over one another in the church.
Scripture is full of examples of people speaking blessing into others’ lives. In Genesis the fathers speak blessings over their sons. Famously Jacob manipulates his older brother Esau into giving him his blessing (Gen. 25). He even deceives his father, Isaac, into blessing him when he meant to bless Esau (Gen. 27). The LORD gives Moses a blessing that Aaron is supposed to declare over the people of Israel:
Numbers 6:22–27 22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Yesterday we saw Jesus blessing the disciples before he ascends into heaven. The greetings and conclusions of many New Testament letters are blessings:
1 Corinthians 1:3 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 16:23–24 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The common greeting of the day was, “Peace be with you.” These are blessings.
Jesus teaches us to bless even those who curse us.
Luke 6:27–28 27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Remember the negative use of the tongue from James 3:9:
James 3:9 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
The opposite of pronouncing blessing on others, is cursing them or simply saying things of no value at all.
John Ortberg in his great little book, Soul Keeping, describes the great practicality of blessing and cursing. “Blessing and cursing are not compartmentalized Bible words at all. They are simply the two ways that we treat people. They are as inseparable as breathing in and breathing out.” Elsewhere he writes, “I used to think cursing someone meant swearing at them, or putting a hex on them, so it was pretty easy to avoid because I do not swear much or do hexes. But as I listened to Dallas [Willard], I realized how wrong I had been. You can curse someone with an eyebrow. You can curse someone with a shrugged shoulder. I have seen a husband curse a wife by leaving just the tiniest delay before saying, ‘Of course I love you.’ The better you know someone, the more subtly and cruelly you can curse them.”
Some of our greatest wounds in life are from curses spoken over us by a parent, a sibling, a boss, a close friend, a son or daughter, etc.
- You’ll never amount to anything
- You’re worthless
- You’re a creep
- You’re a failure
- I hate you
- I wish you were more like your brother
- You’re ugly
- You’ll never get over this / It will always be this way
- This is your fault
The beauty of the gospel is that we can be free from the curse of sin and death and any curses spoken over us. Instead of living in these curses, we can trust in the blessing that God has spoken over us.
- You’ll never amount to anything - God has gifted and called you to do great things for him
- You’re worthless - Jesus died for you
- You’re a creep - You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God
- You’re a failure - God’s grace is sufficient for you
- I hate you - God loves you
- I wish you were more like your brother - God created you and dearly loves you
- You’re ugly - you’re fearfully and wonderfully made
- You’ll never get over this/It’ll always be this way - God is making all things new
- This is your fault - I am forgiven
Proverbs 12:18 18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
To bring healing to the curses spoken over us, we must bless one another by reminding one another of the blessing God has given us. Whatever blessing I have in myself pales in comparison to the blessing God has already given us, so the best thing I can do is speak the blessings of God over God’s people. These words, when trusted, bring healing to the sword thrusts of careless curses spoken over us.
Dallas Willard says, “Blessing is the projection of good into the life of another.”
We can use our tongue to bless or to curse. Let’s be a community at LifeBridge in which we invoke God’s goodness into one another’s lives.
Additional Content
Reflection
Play through your day today in your head. How can you speak blessing (i.e., project God’s goodness) into the lives of those you will encounter today?