To Be A Blessing

Have you ever found yourself driving down the street and seen the sign, "Will Work For Food"? Or maybe you overheard someone being short ten cents? Or maybe you even heard of a need that you were very much able to provide? Don't be guilty of looking away when you see a need that you can meet or can call to action. In Job, we find that he told God that if he saw a need and failed to meet those needs to let his arm detach from his shoulder and his arm to fall off. He later in the same chapter Job said may his land be cursed if he failed to meet that need. If we, as Christians, could simply be what a Christian should be, we would be able to meet every need.
Now, I can already hear the moans and groans of this short little study but hear me out. I want you to reap the benefits of being a blessing to someone whose need you can meet. Does it mean that you have to go into debt to help someone? No. Because God's Word tells us to "owe no man anything" and "the borrower is slave to the lender" we know that we can not borrow or go into debt to help someone. However, we can give of ourselves, of what monies we have, or even call on others to help meet that need. What happens when you bless others is you make room for a blessing for yourself (Proverbs 18:16, Malachi 3:10). I would like to focus on Luke 6:38 for a moment. "Give and gifts will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will they pour into the pouch formed by the bosom of your robe and used as a bag. For what measure YOU deal out, it will be given back to YOU." I like that God has promised that if you give, you will get it back. Many people use this in the "prosperity gospel" in which I do not believe in. It is often out of balance and can cause many to fall from the Christian faith. However, I do believe that we are called to be prosperous (see Jeremiah 29:11). Now there is always balance in being prosperous and being rich. Being prosperous makes available a tool to help those around you in which can make a blessing to them. Being rich is merely a term used to say that you have a lot of stuff. One thing that we have to remember in being a blessing to other people is that we have to do it cheerfully. Your blessing is only as good as your attitude. If you bless someone with a begrudging attitude, then you have already spent your blessing in a way that is not pleasing to God (2 Corinthians 9:7). Your blessing you surpass any of your desires and will expand your inheritance in heaven.
Now we must tackle the topic of being boastful and prideful in being a blessing. Often I like to refer to the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 19. The Pharisee was a man who boasted that he gave to the poor, paid his tithe, prayed umpteen times a day, etc. But the Tax collector, a man who was known for his greediness, because humble in what he felt. He asked God to forgive him and simply beat his chest for he knew of his unworthiness. The Tax Collector went away justified and the Pharisee got his reward there in public. Jesus also gave the parable in Matthew 6 to not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. Why would that be? If we let others know what we are doing and why we are blessing someone, then we don't have the opportunity to watch that blessing grows. The person who flaunts the blessing he gave someone is one who has lost his reward from God because that person has already received praise. Because you give and pray does not give you the right to flaunt it. It will take away your blessing.
God is waiting to bless you for blessing others. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. Let me encourage you to find someone to bless and don't let them know. Do it secretly and watch them from a distance. Whether it be a waitress that you leave a 10 dollar tip and a note saying God loves you or it be a co-worker who has been tight on cash and you leave a 20 in their mailbox at work to help with gas. Maybe you can do something as simple as bringing someone lunch or helping with a difficult project. You have so many avenues that you can be a blessing through. Ask God to show you these avenues and become even more a blessing to someone in need. Who knows, your blessing could lead someone to Christ. What a testimony.