How do you bless your child? I know, that sounds like a strange question, especially since blessing is what all of us want for our children. We all dream of the best for our children. But did you know there is a proactive way of making sure that your children are blessed?
We began a couple of years ago to celebrate a Sabbath meal together on Friday evenings. No, we're not Jewish but we have observed that one of the reasons so many Jewish people are prosperous is because receiving a verbal "blessing" on a regular basis is part of their culture.
During our Sabbath meal we celebrate communion together, thanking the Father for sending his Son, Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice to pay for our sin. From the very beginning the Bible tells of one who would come and through whom all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. The one who fulfilled all of the prophesies and through whom we are blessed is Jesus. He suffered the ultimate curse and humiliation of death on a cross and separation from His Father so that through Him we could have life and an eternal relationship with God the Father. So knowing that blessing comes through Jesus, we celebrate that at the beginning of our meal.
Then at the end of the meal, my husband speaks a blessing over each of our children and our grandchild, blessing them with wisdom, knowledge, direction, prosperity, and in short, declaring God's promises over their lives.
In order to do this, we have to see past what is actually happening and agree by faith with what God the Father says in His word about us and about our future. Those are the things we are to speak over ourselves and over each other.
To bless means "to enable to prosper." Who have you enabled to prosper through your words and/or actions lately?
Showing posts with label blessing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blessing. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, February 23, 2009
Blessed with Identity
My little grandson looked up into my eyes yesterday and asked, "Grandma, do you know who I am?" I, of course, wondered what was coming next! Maybe a lion or a dog or a kitty or a horse...? What came out of his mouth next absolutely floored me. He said, "I'm your grandson."
Wow! Talk about knowing who you are!
That gave me the idea for where to go next in writing about blessing. Remember from my recent post that I defined blessing as "empowering to prosper." Prosperity in this sense of the word doesn't mean financial prosperity in the way we often think although it could include that. When someone is prospering, it is tied to an understanding of who they are - their identity. They are at peace with who they are, not wishing they were prettier, shorter, taller, thinner, a girl instead of a boy or a boy instead of a girl. They are at peace with their parents, themselves and their neighbor.
They are not continually striving to measure up to some perceived standard they hope someday to achieve.
So how do we as parents and grandparents accomplish this seeming miraculous state of being in our children or grandchildren? I certainly don't have all the answers, but I would like to suggest that it is crucial that we separate identity from behavior as we teach and discipline our children. Somehow through our words and actions we must affirm who they are (identity) while we place consequences on behavior that we wish to discourage. This is sometimes difficult to do. Well, maybe it's always difficult to do. Nevertheless it must be done in order to teach our children and grandchildren that they are valued, important, OK, etc.
This whole process begins with an understanding of how God views us and how He views our children. A classic passage in Psalm 139 verses 13 & 14 says,
This theme is reiterated by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10,
When we can look at both ourselves and our children through God's eyes, we have come a long way toward being able to bless our children and empower them to prosper in the knowledge of their identity as precious beings formed by God in just the way He wanted them to be.
Do you know who you are?
Wow! Talk about knowing who you are!
That gave me the idea for where to go next in writing about blessing. Remember from my recent post that I defined blessing as "empowering to prosper." Prosperity in this sense of the word doesn't mean financial prosperity in the way we often think although it could include that. When someone is prospering, it is tied to an understanding of who they are - their identity. They are at peace with who they are, not wishing they were prettier, shorter, taller, thinner, a girl instead of a boy or a boy instead of a girl. They are at peace with their parents, themselves and their neighbor.
They are not continually striving to measure up to some perceived standard they hope someday to achieve.
So how do we as parents and grandparents accomplish this seeming miraculous state of being in our children or grandchildren? I certainly don't have all the answers, but I would like to suggest that it is crucial that we separate identity from behavior as we teach and discipline our children. Somehow through our words and actions we must affirm who they are (identity) while we place consequences on behavior that we wish to discourage. This is sometimes difficult to do. Well, maybe it's always difficult to do. Nevertheless it must be done in order to teach our children and grandchildren that they are valued, important, OK, etc.
This whole process begins with an understanding of how God views us and how He views our children. A classic passage in Psalm 139 verses 13 & 14 says,
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
This theme is reiterated by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10,
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
When we can look at both ourselves and our children through God's eyes, we have come a long way toward being able to bless our children and empower them to prosper in the knowledge of their identity as precious beings formed by God in just the way He wanted them to be.
Do you know who you are?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Blessing Generations
We're doing a Blessing Generations seminar this weekend and that got my wheels turning for a post about blessing.
The Bible talks about blessing from cover to cover. Most of us would be hard pressed to define it; I know I was. That is, until I heard this definition: blessing = empower to prosper.
"Empower to prosper" really gets you thinking. What are some practical ways to do this? Who are the people in our lives we would like to empower to prosper?
I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear yours first. My next blog post will be about blessing and I'll share my ideas then.
Who have you blessed (empowered to prosper) today?
The Bible talks about blessing from cover to cover. Most of us would be hard pressed to define it; I know I was. That is, until I heard this definition: blessing = empower to prosper.
"Empower to prosper" really gets you thinking. What are some practical ways to do this? Who are the people in our lives we would like to empower to prosper?
I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear yours first. My next blog post will be about blessing and I'll share my ideas then.
Who have you blessed (empowered to prosper) today?
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