Be Strong Courageous in Community The Courage to Bless

For Your Heart Today

Many of us spend our lives trying to earn what God has already given. We strive to prove ourselves, to be productive, to hold everything together, to leave something meaningful behind. Yet Jacob’s final act in Genesis 48 reminds us that blessing begins by remembering.

Before Jacob blesses his grandchildren, he tells the story of how God has blessed him. He remembers the God who appeared to him, shepherded him, redeemed him, and remained faithful through joy, grief, failure, and loss.

Perhaps that is where courage begins for us as well. Before we speak words of blessing to others, we pause long enough to remember that we are already accepted and incredibly blessed. We belong to God before we accomplish anything for God, and his blessings are bountiful.

From that place of grace and being blessed, we bless. Even our wounds can become places of blessing and testimony. And the unexpected turns of our lives may become the very places where God blesses by doing something new.

As recipients of God’s grace, we are invited to speak words of life, hope, and blessing into the lives of others.

Takeaways

We bless others best when we first receive God’s grace and remember that we are accepted, loved, and blessed.

God often uses our wounds, struggles, and unfinished stories as places through which He can bless others.

Because we live from God’s acceptance rather than striving for it, we can trust Him to work in surprising ways beyond our expectations and bless us and others.

Breath Prayer

Inhale: I am accepted by Your grace.

Exhale: Help me become a blessing.