By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“We are healed to help others. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are saved to serve, not to sit around and wait for heaven.” – Rick Warren

It’s really hard for me to accept other
people’s blessings, what about you?

There are a few different reasons why this
may be true. Maybe I feel that by accepting
their blessing I am now in debt to them, that I owe them something. Maybe I like to think I can do it all on my own. I don’t need someone else’s help. Maybe I feel like I’m takingadvantage of someone’s goodwill in some way.

Whatever the reason may be, there’s
always a second of hesitation. When someoneapproaches me with a nice card or a gift, orthey offer to help me do something that wouldhelp me out, my frst response is always, “No,thank you”.

But, I have begun to realize that in doing
so, I may be robbing someone of their blessing.

You see, Jesus and Scripture continually call
us to be a blessing to those around us. To serve others and to humble yourself before them is the constant call that is ringing in our ears when we look to bless others.

By saying, “No, thank you,” to that
brother or sister in Christ who is trying to bless me, I’m robbing them of their following of that call. And many times, the reason for my denying them stems from my own pride.

I think that we should get better at
accepting the help of others. If God is leading them to bless us, then let them do it. But I don’t think that their blessing should end with us. I believe that inside the community of believers especially, there should be a continual cycle and culture of blessing. When I am blessed, I am prompted to bless others, and they are prompted to bless someone else. By denying the blessing, we stop up the cycle.

Let us accept the blessing with humility and
gratefulness, and then pass it on to the next
person.

Look at what God says in Zachariah 8:13: “Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been
a curse among the nations, so I will save l you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.” God’s words here don’t only apply to Israel, but instead, we can hear them as the People of God today. Have you been saved by God? Have you been rescued from sin and
death?

In this verse, God sets up a cause and
effect relationship between the saving grace of God and the blessing of others. It is when we are saved by God that we feel a new passion and energy to bless others. And by blessing others, we speak to the love of Christ that is alive and working in us.

Blessing someone else is sharing the
Gospel with them. It is showing them the
nature and character of the God that we serve.

It shows them that we are affected by His
saving grace and desire it for all people.

The next time someone offers to bless you,
accept it with humility and a simple, “Thank
you.” And then pass it on, fulflling the call
that Christ has laid on all of His followers:
“In the same way, let your light shine
before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).