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).
There's hardly a better explanation why we are to forgive, to
witness, to live for God: We have been blessed and are there
fore to be a blessing to others. 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 blessings, you're
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
