Being Blessed

What does it really mean to be blessed?

If you spend any time on social media, you have probably seen the word everywhere. A new house, a great vacation, a picture-perfect family… #blessed. It starts to shape the way we think. Being blessed must mean everything is going right. Life is smooth. Things are working out. If I am honest, I can drift into thinking that way too. But when you slow down and look at Scripture, blessing is described in a much deeper way than just everything going right on the outside.

In Genesis 1, when God creates Adam and Eve, it says He blessed them. What stands out is that this happens before they have done anything. They have not accomplished anything. They have not proven anything. They have not succeeded or failed. They simply exist, and God blesses them. Later, when the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the word used there for “blessed” is eulogeō. It is where we get our word eulogy.

“Eu” means good. “Logeo” means to speak. So, to bless, at its core, means to speak good words.

That changes things a little. Because we usually think of a eulogy as something said at the end of a person’s life. It is when we gather and talk about what was good and what we will remember. But in Genesis, God does not wait until the end. At the very beginning, He speaks good words.

And that blessing was not just for Adam and Eve, it extends to every person who would come after them. That is us. Which means before we were ever born, God spoke good words over us. That matters, because most of us are used to hearing a different set of words. Not good enough. Not smart enough. Not successful enough. Just not enough. Those words have a way of sticking. They get replayed in our minds and start to shape how we see ourselves. So, my prayer for you is simple. That the good words God has spoken over you would be louder than the negative words you have heard from others, or even the ones you have said to yourself.

But Scripture does not stop with us only receiving blessing. In Genesis 12, God makes a promise to Abraham. He tells him that he will be blessed, but the purpose of that blessing is that he would be a blessing to others. In other words, it is not just something we receive, it flows through us. If being blessed means that God speaks good words over us, then being a blessing means we turn and speak good words over others. And if we want to reflect God’s heart, maybe we should not wait until someone is gone to say those things.

I have done enough funerals to know this. When the moment comes, people always find the words. Even in complicated situations, somehow, they are able to speak about what was good and what mattered. So, what if we did not wait? What if we said those things now? Parents, tell your kids you are proud of them. Speak life into who they are becoming, even if they are adults. Husbands and wives, do not assume the other person knows. Say it out loud. Kids, speak good words to your parents.

I have realized something about myself in all of this. I often think good things about people, but I do not always say them. I am trying to change that. When something good comes to mind, I want to speak it. Because we live in a world that needs more of this. More people hearing the good words God speaks over them, and more people choosing to speak those same kinds of words to others.

Maybe being blessed is not just about everything going right on the outside. Maybe it starts with the words spoken over us and continues with the words we choose to speak over others.