Rethinking Blessings: Understanding God’s Perspective

Christmas is when most people are the most intentional about being generous and blessing others. As Christians, we celebrate the birth of a Savior who paid the ultimate price so that we could be blessed with the gift of salvation. Whether from a place of deep gratitude or out of cultural norms, most people spend dollars, get creative, and write words to bless the people they love in this season. Christmas has the opportunity to showcase the best of humanity.

In the middle of the festivities, I just got done preparing to teach a message as a part of our new Christmas series at One City entitled The Blessing: It is Much More Than We Realize. In my study, not only did I realize our tagline is very accurate (go figure?), but I was also challenged to deepen my understanding of how, why, and who God blesses. 

In such a performance-based world, I am geared to try to earn a blessing. It is not Santa determining if I am naughty or nice, but I can sometimes feel that my blessings are tied to how I live out my faith. Don’t get me wrong, God does bless obedience. God wires us for blessings, offers us blessings here, and even rewards us in heaven for how we choose to live. Still, as I began preparing for the message and introducing the series, Chris suggested I listen to a message by another pastor to help our teaching team have some common perspective as we enter this new series. As the pastor dissected the theology of blessings, it was both convicting but also encouraging. 

If you have felt on the short end of receiving blessings recently or been shy to share some of God’s kindness you have experienced, some paradigm shifts may help you see the goodness of God like you have not before. I encourage you to check out this message and marinate on the truths over this holiday season. 

Whether you have been incredibly blessed in 2024 or felt overlooked, these truths will help you be positioned to receive more of God’s blessings and be used to bless others more in 2025.

Want to hear the end result of my study for part 1 of The Blessing: It is Much More Than We Realize? Take a listen. I pray it will encourage you greatly.