Should We Say "I'm Blessed"?

I was asked my opinion about the following article. THINK TWICE BEFORE SAYING, “I’M BLESSED”

The author starts by listing some of the things that she's thankful for, things that she's been blessed with. Then she asks whether she's blessed or just lucky. She refers to an interview with a Jesuit priest who called himself lucky because of his circumstances. She was surprised to hear "a person of faith call himself lucky instead of blessed". Then she says something that I think is important to focus on.

Her: "Yet the more I think about it, the more I understand Father Boyle’s word choice. Citing our material circumstances – the home we live in, the food on our table, the vacations we enjoy, our health and the health of our family, the status of our bank account – as evidence of our blessedness implies that, at the same time God has chosen to bless us with these gifts, he has chosen not to bless others in the same way."

The Bible does say God chooses to bless some people and not others. The Old Testament is about God blessing one group of people and not other groups. He very clearly blessed His chosen people Israel in a special way. Look at this example. "I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever." (Malachi 1:2-4)

He also does this in the New Testament. He gives gifts to some and not to others. In Romans 9, Paul uses that passage from Malachi to demonstrate that God blesses whoever He wants to bless. He also refers to the Pharaoh of Egypt and uses him as an example of God blessing some humans with mercy and compassion, while not doing this to other people. For more about this, you should read God's Holy Hatred.

So biblically speaking, God does pick who He's going to bless, and to the degree that He wants them to be blessed. That goes for property as well as personal gifts and talents. King Solomon was wealthy because God made Him wealthy. He was wise because God made Him wise. And it was also God who caused adversaries to come against Solomon and cause trouble for him. God gives and God takes away. Everything is from Him.

So yes, the God of the Bible blesses some people with more, and some people with less. That's His right as God. And also there is no such thing as luck. The idea of luck is contrary to biblical thinking.

Her: "If I say I am blessed because... (she lists her blessings again)... what does that say about the single mother living in the inner-city tenement apartment, the man standing in the unemployment benefits line, and the family starving in some distant land? Are they not blessed? Has God chosen me, but not them?"

"Are they not blessed?"

Well, they are blessed, just not in the same way as you. There's always someone with a bigger house and more stuff.

"Has God chosen me, but not them?"

Yes, of course God has chosen to give you what you have. He chose to give them what they have too though. Everything we have is because God gave it to us. And everything we don't have is because God didn't give it to us. Does she think this is somehow unfair? He's not giving you more and giving them less because He thinks you're better than them. God doesn't give gifts to humans based on the human. God's generosity is based on His character, not ours. He's not obligated to give anything to anyone at all. The fact that He gives you something should make you thankful because He did it, not you. You didn't earn it. "For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:7)

So whatever you have came from His hand. You didn't earn it or provide it yourself. We buy things with money that came from a job that God provided for us. He gives us the ability to think, walk, talk, work, etc. He does not give everyone those gifts. Some people can't think, walk, talk, or work. But what they do have, came from Him. At the most fundamental level, anyone who has ever lived was blessed by God because He gave them life. He's not obligated to do that. So everyone should say "I am blessed". Something that's missing in this article is the biblical concept that all humans are born as children of wrath. Humans are born into a state of rebellion, rejecting God and going our own way instead of His way. So anything God does for us is a blessing. Just letting us live is a blessing because He would be within His rights to have thrown our sinful ancestors directly into hell without letting them produce children. So everything we have is a gift. The fact that we were born is a blessing from God.

Her: "We are not blessed by what we have... but by what we lack. We are not blessed by all that we do, but in where we fall short."

She referred to the sermon on the mount but what does this have to do with her having a nice job and a good house? Jesus gave encouragement to His disciples in that sermon. Everything He said is correct. The people He listed are indeed blessed. And so is the author of this article, to one degree or another. It's okay to be thankful for what you do have. Those things are blessings and we should be so thankful for them! Yes, you should also be thankful when things go wrong. Be thankful for everything; what you have and what you don't have. Read the New Testament and listen to the apostles give thanks for their circumstances. These men were mocked, beaten, put in jail, tortured, and eventually put to death. But they were full of joy in every moment of this, always thankful. They thanked God always, even in terrible circumstances.

Paul said, "I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."(Philippians 4:12-13)

Her: "It is in our brokenness, in our failings and shortcomings, in our grief and hardship, that we are most aware of God’s compassion and love" I agree with the sentiment behind this. It's true that when people have everything going well in their lives and they've got all the stuff they want, they don't feel the need for God as much as a person who is struggling. God often introduces Himself to a person by wrecking their life and taking things away from them so that they will turn to Him. When things are going great and you suddenly lose your job or your home, you suddenly become aware of the fact that you need to ask favor of the One who provides all things.

Keep in mind, being rich is not necessarily a good thing. Got Questions: Is it better to be wealthy or poor?

Her: "God does indeed lavish blessings upon us, but not in the way most of us like to think. We are blessed by who we have – a God who is always with each and every one of us. We are blessed by who we are — beloved children of God, loved always and forever."

Yes, He does lavish blessings on everyone in one form or another, as I've talked about. But when she says "we" and "us", who is she talking about? If she means all humans in general, that isn't true. If you believe in Christ for your salvation, God is with you and you are His child. But if you don't believe in Jesus, He is most certainly against you, and you are definitely not His child. Remember the whole children of wrath thing? So it depends what she means by God being "with each and every one of us". He blesses every human alive, but He is not "with" all humans in the same way He's "with" Christians. This might sound like nit-picking but it's a pretty important theological distinction that needs to be made. Not every human is a child of God. Christians have been adopted into God's family through faith in Jesus. That's how we're allowed to call Jesus' Father, our Father. This is an exclusive right that only Christians have. (Romans 8) Her: "We are blessed by who we are — beloved children of God, loved always and forever."

This is a matter of theology. She's not in agreement with scripture unless by "we" she's talking only to Christians. She never made that distinction in the article and she didn't specify who she was talking about. Every human being is a child of wrath, on their way to hell, unless God adopts them as His children through faith in Christ. This is a very common misunderstanding, but it's very important to make it clear. Every human is not a child of God, only Christians are. Christians are sinners who God had mercy on and adopted as His children. Everyone else is still a child of wrath. Got Questions: Adopted by God

So my opinion about the article is that it sounds like she's not very clear about biblical theology or anthropology, or what the Bible teaches about God and humans. She seems to be overly concerned with acknowledging that she is indeed blessed with a good job, nice house, all of the things she listed. Being thankful for what you've been given is a good thing. You shouldn't feel bad about being grateful for the things God has given you. It should make you humble. It should make you take a survey of your stuff and think about how generous God has been. It should make you want to be generous in turn. You should want to bless other people the same way you've been blessed. If you think you've got a lot of stuff, give some of it to a person who doesn't have as much. Then you'll be blessed, and so will they. So, should you say "I am blessed"? Yes, you are blessed and you should say it as often as you want. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging what you've been given and who gave it to you. But as for spiritual blessing, every Christian is blessed by God's grace and mercy because He chose us out of the rest of humanity and gave us special blessings like faith and repentance. He gave us salvation when He would have been perfectly justified in condemning every one of us.

When you read the following passage, keep in mind that "us" is talking about Christians. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:3-14)

Got Questions: Predestination

Maybe an illustration will help wrap this up:

Let's say there's a really generous man in your neighborhood who goes from door to door giving money to everyone. He gives some people a 20 dollar bill, some of them a 10 dollar bill, and some of them a 5 dollar bill. Is he being unfair in his generosity? Is he obligated to give any of them any money at all? Isn't he free to give as much or as little as he wants since it's his money? Maybe he decided ahead of time who will get how much, but he doesn't tell them his reasons. Shouldn't they all say thank you, no matter how much they get? Shouldn't they all recognize the generosity of the man who freely gave them this gift? What if every now and then he gives some of them a priceless gold coin?

#1 God blesses everyone because He's gracious. Yes, you should acknowledge your blessings and be thankful whether you have a lot or a little. There is no such thing as luck.

#2 He blesses Christians with a special blessing. He gives us spiritual gifts like faith, repentance, salvation, etc. He does this for His own reasons because it pleases Him to do it this way. We get the gold coin because He wanted to do that for us, not because of anything we did to earn it.

Thanks for reading. God bless.

The Gospel of Grace Salvation: What Must I Do To Be Saved?