Always Be A Blessing


Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
(Romans 12:14)

How hard is it for me to bless someone who has blessed me in some way? It’s not hard at all. The opposite is not so easy, but it is still required of me if I claim to follow Jesus. He doesn’t care if others are nice to me, he wants me to give them the same love and blessings he has given me. I don’t deserve his love any more than another person, so even if they’re really making my life miserable, I’m supposed to bless them. The cause of Christ is not advanced if I am only nice to those who are nice to me.
I once joined with over a thousand people in a ‘Walk for Life’ sponsored by a Christian abortion counseling center. As we were walking down residential streets with our signs, cars would drive by blowing their horns, give obscene gestures, and hurl curses at us. That was hard to take but we would raise our signs and yell God’s blessings on them. We were done with the walk very quickly, so I wouldn’t call it traumatizing, but it was difficult.
It was slightly different when we were confronted by a resident of one of the homes on the street we were walking down. She was vehemently opposed to our being on her street and wasn’t afraid to openly express her feelings toward us in a very insulting and personal way. It would have been so easy to return her insults and curses, but everyone I’m aware of only replied with love and blessings for her.
The nicer we tried to be to her the madder she got but we could only follow the command to bless her. Several people crossed to her side of the street and engaged her in a calm and loving way. They were trying to explain to her why we believe abortion is wrong. She was not persuaded and angrily ordered them off her property. We are not charged with changing her mind. We are charged with showing her the love of Christ! She obviously needed it!




Lord God, we hope you realize how hard this is for us. We always want to put the best foot forward for your Church to our unbelieving friends, however, when we are accosted, our first instinct is to retaliate. Father forgive us when we are quick to react without considering what you’ve blessed us with. Remind us, Lord, that we don’t deserve your blessings any more than they deserve ours. Help us to behave like Jesus when we’re confronted by people who don’t believe the way we do. They can sometimes be very mean and vocal, if not downright physical, but we don’t have to be. Help us to treat them gracefully, with respect, and bless them as we do. Father, even if they reject our blessing, water and grow the seed that we plant with our Christ like demeanor. If it be your will, bring them back to us, that we may continue to lead them to decide to walk their daily lives with you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
Location: Kendall, NY 14476, USA

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