How to Strive to Have a Godly Marriage - How to Be a Blessing

Numbers 6:22;25 - And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
Genesis 1:28 - And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
I Chronicles 4:10 - And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
The above Scriptures are examples of people blessing others and asking the Lord to bless themselves. Have you made your requests known unto God, have you asked Him to bless you?
Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; Sunday night after this message, my husband, our son and I sat down at the table and had a mini devotion over this very message. We talked about what it meant to be a blessing to others, how to be a blessing to others, and we even prayed that small prayer of Jabez, “Lord, bless us, bless our family, our home, our health, our finances...”. We made a list of ways we can bless others and challenged each other to look for ways to bless other people during with week, and to only speak blessings this week; we agreed it was ok to gently correct each other and hold each other accountable for the words we speak.
I’ll have to say, so far, our challenge is going very well.
Death, physical, spiritual and emotional, is associated with cursing and negative words; if you call someone a name or even gossip about them; there isn’t any grey area with God, it’s either black, or white, including the words out of our mouths; and think about how this affects the person being talked about or spoken to in a negative way, it breaks their heart, embarrasses them and makes them feel bad; hence, spiritual and emotional death.
When we speak positive things to and about people, we are speaking life to/about them! Good or bad, our words have a huge impact on those we are speaking to and about; when you’re tempted to speak a negative word or gossip about someone, remember God has a huge plan for this person, look at them the way He does; look at them the way He looks at you.
So, what are some ways you can give a blessing to someone?
1. By saying nice things to them – {you’re so strong, beautiful, or smart; I love you, I appreciate you, your mine;} we spend way too much time criticizing others. I Corinthians 1:3 - Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing way to greet someone!
2. With a gentle touch – {soft brush of a cheek, a hug, holding hands, even in public!}
Matthew 19:13-15 - Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. Jesus blessed the little children, because He loved them. You want the blessing of heaven, right? God has blessed you, so why aren’t you blessing your children? This doesn’t mean with ‘stuff’ – we are talking about heavenly blessings. When is the last time you publicly blessed your children with your words? So many times we are quick to call out our children in public, {when this should be done in a quiet setting so not to embarrass your child;}be quick to bless your children in public, tell them how proud you are of them, or how good they did something. You have been called by God to be a blessing.
Isaiah 11:2 - And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
Deuteronomy 10:8 - At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
I Chronicles 23:13 - The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name for ever.
Psalm 16:7 - I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
When you ask the Lord to bless someone, including yourself, see in your mind what you are asking the Lord to do; come to the throne of grace with expectations in mind of God doing it. Matthew 21:22 - And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Numbers 6:25-26 - The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
I Peter 3:9 - Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
How many blessings have you missed out on for acting unjustly or speaking curses?
Husbands, bless your wives
Wives, bless your husbands
Parents, bless your children
Children, bless your parents
If you could see three generations ahead of you, what would you see? Would you see your sins in your great grandchildren and so on? Or would you see godly families living righteous lives? If it is your sins you would see, you can put a stop to it right now! Stop the sin, repent, and start blessing people. You can reverse that sin curse on your family!
Seek to be a blessing to someone every day. Your spouse and children are wanting you to bless them.
Challenge -
Husbands – write out blessings for your wife
Wives – write out blessings for your husband
Parents – write out blessings for your children {look in the OT for examples} and then give them those blessings you wrote out
Deuteronomy 33:1 - And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
Luke 24:50-51 - And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
Genesis 27:34 - And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.
The blessings need to come, your family hungers for them. A father’s blessing determines a lot of how a child will turn out. When parents don’t bless their children, or give them affirmation, they will go elsewhere to find it. Dads, if you don’t tell your daughters how nice they look when they dress modestly, they will get that attention by dressing immodestly, seeking approval from strange men.
If you don’t give your spouse or your children the blessing, you leave a hole in their heart; it will break them, and they will look elsewhere for that affirmation. Revelation 4:11 - Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. No matter how old your children are, or how bad you ‘messed up’, you can still fix it. There is still hope; repent, come to Christ, start blessing those you love, today.
Jenn