There’s a term that’s been running around in the church world for a bit now called “the prosperity gospel”. You often hear this term when referring to “mega-churches” and Christians preaching receiving blessing from God. The vast majority of people hate this term, and churches that preach this so-called “prosperity gospel” often get criticism and shamed.

The prosperity gospel, if you’re not familiar with it, typically includes the gospel that we are all familiar with. God came down to Earth in the form of a human as Jesus to be a sacrifice for our sins, so that we could not only be forgiven forever and go to Heaven, but also, so that we could walk in relationship with him now. This is the “too good to be true” gospel that we get to receive and be a part of. What separates the prosperity gospel from the actual gospel is the focus on blessings and prosperity.

When it comes to the pastors that get associated with this term, they focus a lot of time on money and tithing, rather than dying to your sins and walking in the Spirit. They tend to focus on giving more, so you can get more. The over-arching theme of their messages are that God wants to bless us, rather than He wants us to bless others.

I do believe that God wants us to be blessed. He wants to provide for us, and scripture even says that He doesn’t “let the righteous go hungry”, meaning that he provides for us always. But the focus should always be on others, and we should always be living to be a blessing, rather than living to be blessed.

Today, we’ll look at what that looks like and how we can practically live that out on a daily basis.

A Heart of Blessing

To get started, let’s look at Jesus, as he sent out the seventy-two.

“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10:1-9)

In this very long passage of scripture, Jesus is sending out seventy-two “disciples” if you will, to go proclaim the gospel and to do miracles. He gives them a list of commands, and to us, they sound very extreme. For instance, he tells them to go with no moneybag, and no sandals. He tells them to go heal the sick, without his personal being there. Eat and drink whatever is offered to them, proclaim the gospel, and he even relates the situation to lambs nad wolves. This is certainly an intimidating direction for the seventy-two. All of these very difficult and intimidating asks can all be summed up in one phrase though, one heart. That is, “live to be a blessing”.

Don’t be a Burden

Okay, Jesus didn’t actually say that line. That part was from me. There was something, a heart, that he had throughout all of his instructions. It’s clear that the motive of Jesus’ heart was the motive of living to be a blessing to others.

But in that motive, we see that living to be a blessing, means that we must live to not be something else. If we’re a blessing to others, we must also be living against some other quality that’s opposite of a blessing. That other quality being a burden.

“Carry no moneybag”. “Eat what is set before you”. “Peace be to this house”. These are a few of the statements and directions that Jesus gave to the seventy-two. As He sent them out, He made sure that these specific points were made clear. They shouldn’t carry a bag for money and supplies, they should eat whatever they are given, and they must always go in where there is peace. While there are more directions, these stick out to me, because not only are they ways to be a blessing, but they also show to the seventy-two, that they should not be a burden to the people they meet.

Have you ever blessed someone, and they kind of took it too far? They took the kindness that you showed them and stretched it. Quickly, be a blessing to them became burdensome to you, as they were clearly taking advantage of you.

When I used to have friends stay the night at my house, my parents would often get us food, drinks, and give us the chance to play video games or play around the house. Growing up, I had two friends in particular that came over quite a bit. One friend was very low maintenance, and was fine with whatever we had, and whatever we could do. But the other friend was loud, energetic, and sort of a nuisance. He took advantage of my parents’ leniency and was always way too much. Eventually, my parents didn’t let him come over, but the other friend became like family.

In order to live to be a blessing, we must stop being a burden, and take simply what is given to us, nothing more, and as Jesus explains, nothing less.

Be a Blessing

There were many statements that Jesus made that pointed to the fact that we shouldn’t be a burden. But there were also direct instructions he gave, that pointed us in the direction of being a blessing. I believe that those instructions can be brought down into four main points. One of which is “don’t be a burden”.

The next three are:

• Pray
• Proclaim
• Heal

These three instructions are the ways that we can be a major blessing to others. They bring a wide variety of practices in the way of blessing others, and through them, we can be a light and a spark for change.

Practical Ways to be a Blessing

Those three instructions shape the way that we bless others, but there are many ways from which we can do that. Here are some practical ways that we can be a blessing to others, using those three starting points.

• Pray for others. You can pray over someone privately, or in person, and it’s one of the best ways to bless others.

• Pray for yourself. The more “like Christ” you become, the more of a blessing you will inevitably become as well.

• Lead prayer groups. Whatever is asked within two or more in the name of Jesus, it will be done. Forming groups to pray over your communities and families is a great way to be a blessing.

• Proclaim the Gospel. Sharing your faith is a great way to be a blessing to others and win lost souls.

• Teach or share. Teaching or sharing your experiences or revelations from God bless others, and I for one have been on the receiving end of that, many times.

• Heal the sick. We’ve all seen people, whether just on the internet or in-person, receiving healing. Maybe you’ve experienced it. Undoubtedly, healing someone’s broken leg, or their cancer diagnosis in the name of Jesus is a great way to be a blessing in their life. You can do it too! In the name of Jesus, of course.

• Heal the broken-hearted. Helping restore someone’s mental health, talking them through trauma or bad times is one of the best ways to bless others. There are so many broken people, depressed people, and hurt people, that need Christians to take their eyes off themselves, and put them on others.

• Reconcile. God has given us all, through his Spirit, the ministry of reconciliation. We all can play a part in bringing people back to the Lord. There are so many lost souls that need to find Jesus. We can help lead them, but of course, only Jesus can truly restore and forgive them.

Final Thoughts

There are so many ways that we can be a blessing in this world. The list that was given was far from being complete. In fact, that was only a very small part of the picture. Jesus, in himself, was the greatest blessing known to man, and we still have never gotten to know him completely. Therefore, we haven’t begun to scratch the surface as to what it means to be a blessing to others.

However, there are still many other clear ways that we can bless others, such as giving money, giving our time, helping out and volunteering. We can serve them through the Church, or we can serve them through our communities. Maybe it’s as simple as picking up someone’s shift at work to help them out. There are a variety of different ways to be a blessing in people’s lives. The most important thing is to develop a heart of blessing.

Don’t live to be blessed. Live to be a blessing, and you will be one, no matter what. That is what it means to have a heart of blessing.

Finally, don’t get caught up with particulars, or with prosperity and blessings for yourself. As food and shelter came for the seventy-two, as will all that you need and more. When you have a heart of blessing others, blessings will eventually start to flow for you. But always keep your mind set on others, not yourself, just as Jesus led the seventy-two to do as well.

Have a great week!