The Practitioner Corner: Be a Blessing

By Kim Hedge, CS

Genesis 12:1-3 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition) reads in part, “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” 

This is the covenant between Abram (who was later named Abraham) and God, and it wasn’t just that he and his family would be blessed by God. They were to go out into the world and be a blessing to everyone else. 

That might be a different way to look at God’s promises to those in the Bible and to us today. Certainly, God will bless us – as it states in Malachi, “…see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” (3:10, NRSVUE). But perhaps with the covenant with Abram, we see that we have a part to play. Life must be bigger than ourselves. It is about being of service to others. If God is making us to be a blessing, surely God will equip us with all that we need to do so, and we get to trust that. 

Mary Baker Eddy writes, “To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, today is big with blessings” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. vii). What does it take to lean on something? Trust that it won’t fall down or collapse under us. And we can trust that God’s love is ever-present and ever ready to guide, protect, and supply us with what we need.

Recently, I was blessed to spend a weekend in Colorado Springs with the teens in the DiscoveryBound Compass program. The group requested that we dive into the topic of how to plan for the future, as some are thinking about whether or not to go to college and what jobs or careers they might be interested in. We looked at the ideas of listening for God’s direction and trusting in it. More importantly, we looked at motives. 

I shared a story of a friend who was looking for a job, but had initially only been looking at what they wanted out of it and what they could gain from it. However, when we approach things that way, aren’t we limiting God? What if God wants more for us than what we ask for – like “overflowing blessing[s]”? When my friend flipped the script and asked God what they could give and how they could be a blessing, the result was that they quickly found a perfect position in an area they had never considered, and the blessings were way beyond what they had outlined. 

I love to pray and ask God to place me where I can be a blessing and where I can bless the most. Mrs. Eddy also writes, “To love, and to be loved, one must do good to others. The inevitable condition whereby to become blessed, is to bless others…”(Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 127). This ties into a verse from a hymn by Mrs. Eddy that I love to use as a prayer, because it is just that:

My prayer, some daily good to do
To Thine, for Thee;
An offering pure of Love, whereto
God leadeth me.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No.  253:7)

We can be humble and willing to serve and to love wherever God leads us! 

To love and be loved. We also talked about how in order to be loved, we must give love. If you want to feel more love in your life, start loving! Start with God and move out from there. Our love tank works in the exact opposite of physics – the more love you give, the more your love tank fills up! It’s like what Hymn 182 from the Christian Science Hymnal says:

Make channels for the streams of Love,
Where they may broadly run;
And Love has overflowing streams,
To fill them every one.

But if at any time we cease
Such channels to provide,
The very founts of love for us
Will then seem parched and dried.

For we must share, if we would keep
That blessing from above;
They cease to have who cease to give:
Such is the law of Love.

So, enjoy asking God how you can be a blessing today!