What Is A Blessing?

As I began writing about a passage God had been teaching to me, the subject of being blessed and blessings became central and I realized I needed to get a better idea of just what being blessed or a blessing really is. So, I looked up the words used in the Bible for bless, blessed and blessing and found their definition. Then I began to ponder what all this was trying to tell me. Here’s where I am.

So what is a blessing? It is a gift, a special favor, mercy or benefit. It can be praise or thanksgiving. I also found it interesting that the Old Testament word “bless” can also be translated “to kneel down”. This evokes an image to me of humbleness in the act of giving or receiving a blessing. I will not be surprised if at some point God uses this visual idea to show me something. The New Testament word is “eulogia”. It means praise, thanksgiving, the extolling of another, generosity, and gifts. One definition included “to give a blessing is to act kindly”. Our word eulogy is related to this word.

Looking at it from the perspective of being blessed as opposed the blessing itself, the New Testament Greek word for blessed means “receiving God’s favor, fortunate, good, happy”. So it is not unexpected to think of happiness as part of being blessed. Some Bible translations translate the “Blessed” in the Beatitudes as “Happy”. However, I think I need to be careful of falling into the trap of thinking that the only times I have received God’s favor is when I feel happy. Receiving God’s favor isn’t limited to when I am happy. There are times we still have received God’s favor, but circumstances may not necessarily make me happy.

I can receive and give blessings. When I bless God, I am ascribing holiness to Him. When He blesses me there are two general categories the blessings fall into, temporal (vocabulary refresher here!) and spiritual. I can also bless others in temporal and spiritual ways.

Temporal blessings are temporary, and are often for provision and secular, the meeting of earthly needs. Often these types of blessings make me feel happy.

Spiritual blessings are obviously spiritual in nature, those relating to the Kingdom of God. These things impact the spiritual realm and the earthly church, corporately and individually. The length of their effect can be eternal. Sometimes these blessings make us happy. Sometimes I’m not sure I am even aware that I have blessed someone or have been blessed in spiritual ways until much later, if at all here on earth.

I’ve also noticed that blessings can be short-term and immediate, or long term and even multi-generational. For example, being able to put food on the table today is a short term immediate blessing. In contrast, the prophetic blessings such as Isaac and Jacob gave over their sons were long term, meant to be fulfilled throughout the generations. The same can be said of God’s covenant blessing to Abraham, it delivers eternal impact.

I know this has been a bit dry, and probably incomplete and less than perfect, but I really wanted to get a handle on blessings and being blessed before I went any further. So, I like having this to refer back to, knowing that being blessed means receiving the favor of God. This has also opened my eyes to think about the types of blessings I have been seeking and the types of blessings I should want to receive and give. Yes, I do want my earthly needs met and blessed, but am I seeking to be blessed and to bless in the spiritual realm?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time, Choose Joy!