The Four Laws of God's Blessing

“I will bless you … and you will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2 NIV)

1. Our blessings should flow to others.

The Bible teaches us that we are blessed not just so that we can feel good, not just so we can be happy and comfortable, but so that we will bless others. God told Abraham in Genesis 12:2, “I will bless you ... and you will be a blessing” (NIV). This is the first law of blessing: It must flow outwardly.

How do you bless others? By serving a need, whether it is physical or emotional support, financial help, or practical advice. "Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand" (Philippians 1:4 MSG).

2. When we bless others, God takes care of our needs.

God promises that if we will concentrate on blessing others, he’ll take care of our needs. There’s almost nothing that God won’t do for the person who really wants to help other people. In fact, God guarantees this blessing. In Luke 18, Jesus says, “I guarantee this. Anyone who gives up anything for the kingdom of God will certainly receive many times more in this life and will receive eternal life in the next world to come.”

When you care about helping other people, God assumes responsibility for your problems. And that’s a real blessing, for he’s much better at handling your difficulties than you are.

3. Our blessings to others will come back on us.

The more you bless other people and the more you help others, the more God blesses your life. Luke 6:38 tells us, “Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back — given back with bonus and blessing” (MSG). You cannot out-give God. The more you try to bless other people in the world around you, the more God says, “I’m going to pour blessings out on you. We’ll play a little game here. Let’s see who will win. Let’s see who can give the most. The more you bless others, the more I’m going to bless you in return.”

4. The more we’re blessed by God, the more he expects us to help others.

Jesus said it this way in Luke 12: “Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given” (GNT). We are blessed to be a blessing.

Talk About It

- Based on the blessings of your life, what would you say God expects from you?

- What are the needs around you for which you can use your gifts to be a blessing?

Unselfish Giving Is the Anecdote to Materialism

“God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.... Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory.” (1 Peter 4:10-11 NLT)

When God gives, he holds nothing back. He gives you every spiritual blessing available in the storehouses of Heaven (Ephesians 1:3), and he meets your every need.

Do you know what that means? It means you are free to be abundantly generous because God is taking care of you. He wants us to bless others on his behalf. We receive from God, then we give to others: “Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it” (1 Peter 4:10 MSG).

As Pastor Rick has been teaching, God is generous, so he wants us to become generous. It is a Jesus-like characteristic. Since we belong to Jesus 24/7 and our generosity is unlimited when guided by the Holy Spirit and energized by the life of Christ within us, we need to apply more creativity to our generosity.

We often complain about the superficial materialism that has overtaken Christmas. Godly generosity is the anecdote to superficial materialism. Give some serious, intentional thought to how you can be generous this Christmas season, not in the sense of excessive gift giving but rather in helping and blessing those in need.

Talk About It

• Who are the people in your life whom God wants you to bless this Christmas?

• In what ways are you teaching your children or people under your influence how to be generous?

(Written by Jon Walker)