Blessed to Bless / David Jeremiah

 

Blessed to Bless Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:9    The Church’s first martyr, Stephen, delivered a powerful history of redemption just before his death. He began his overview not with creation, but with the calling of Abraham out of Mesopotamia (Acts 7:2-3). When God called Abraham, He said, “I will bless you...and you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2).

Recommended Reading: 1 Chronicles 4: 9 – 10

There is hardly a better explanation for why we are to forgive, to witness, and to live for God: We have been blessed and are therefore to be a blessing to others. The apostle Peter picked up this theme in 1 Peter 3:9, saying we should not repay evil for evil. “On the contrary,” he wrote, repay ill deeds with a “blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” Abraham was called and blessed in order to be a blessing. Christians have been called and blessed in order to be a blessing as well. When you repay evil with a blessing, you are carrying out the earliest mandate for the people of God: Be blessed to be a blessing. Faith brings a man empty to God, that he may be filled with the blessings of God. John Calvin