Do Not Speak Against Your Blessing
Scripture: Proverbs 18:21; James 3:3-10; Mark 3:28-29;
Introduction
This message came to me a couple of weeks ago while I was watching TV. I began working on it while I was on an airplane coming home from Phoenix which led to me having a Spirit-filled discussion with a young lady on the plane. From the time that I first received this message, I have heard example after example of people speaking against their blessing. I have even done it myself to which I was quickly convicted as I thought about this message. It has become such a habit that I do not think we think about what we are saying and its consequences. Let me give you a few examples:
• Spouse: I started with this one because it is very common. Our spouses are a blessing to us for the Lord – whether we realize it or not. When we degrade them or talk about them to their face or behind their backs we are speaking against our blessing. Those words are alive.
• Ourselves: God has blessed us with many gifts and talents, yet we find ways to speak against them. We may not want to believe that there is anything special about us so we never step out and realize our potential.
• Our Possessions: We have houses, cars, clothes, TVs, jewelry and everything else that a person could ask for – yet we are not satisfied. Whenever we are not satisfied with our blessings we begin to talk about them. The house is not big enough; the car is two years old, etc. Thing type of talking changes our perception of the blessing.
We have all said things that we regret but this morning in this message I just want you to consider the impact of speaking against your blessing. I am not sure how many of you are aware of this, but there is a movement in America that states that we are only blessed when we are walking in financial prosperity. For those individuals, the thought of prosperity centers only on financial prosperity or material gain. This extra emphasis on prosperity has taken the focus off of what it really means to be blessed. When we lose that focus we easily get into a situation where we actually begin to speak against the blessings that God places before us. God may be answering our prayers but because those answers may not be “earth shattering” we fail to recognize that the prayer has actually been answered. Our blessings do not come across as blessings any longer because they do not measure up to what the world say a blessing should be. God desires that we stop speaking against our blessings; all of our blessings from the smallest to the largest, the cheapest to the most expensive should we receive with gratitude. This is the season for thanksgiving.
I. The Power Of Words
You have heard me speak on the power of words before. The words that come forth from our mouths are often spoken from our heart. Even though we may be smiling and laughing when we speak them, there are times when there is truth behind the words spoken, even when they are spoken in a joking manner. The Scriptures tell us that our words carry power and we should be very careful how we use them. For example, Proverbs 18:21 says “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” What the writer is saying here is that we reap the seeds that are sown by the words we speak. Once our words are spoken they become a living force on their own. It matters not how many times we say we are sorry, those words will continue to live in the heart of the one that they were spoken to.
In the 3rd chapter of the book of James, James says: “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” James 3:3-10
James explains that the tongue has the ability to set a lot of “negative” things in motion. What comes out of our mouths has the ability to change the course of our future as well as directly impact the future of others. We have seen this time and time again in the things that parents have said to their kids that changed their kids lives. The kids began to live the lives that their parents have told them that they would – often the negative lives. In Mark 11:23 Jesus gives an example that when we speak, the faith behind those words carry the power to make things happen. When we speak, we often speak what is within our heart. When we speak what is within our hearts, we speak what we believe. When we speak what we believe, we are speaking in faith, even if what we have faith for is negative. Remember, faith is neutral so our faith can bring about a positive or a negative outcome, depending on what we believe in our hearts. Also, our faith is often put into action through our spoken word. When we consider the impact and the power of our words we can understand why it is important that we begin to refrain from speaking against our blessings.
Jesus also made another statement concerning the power or impact of our words. In Mark 3:28-29 says “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” In these two verses Jesus speaks of something that some believe cannot happen in our day and time but I don’t agree. Jesus had been casting demons out of some individuals and the scribes (religious leaders) said that the only way He could do that was by the power of the devil that was in charge of the demons. Basically what they said was that Jesus was able to cast those demons out because He himself was of them – possibly their ruler. Jesus first explained to them that a house that is divided against itself (the devil casting out his own demons) would not be able to stand. Then Jesus made the statement that all sin can be forgiven except when someone blasphemes, or speaks against, the Holy Spirit. These scribes spoke against the Holy Spirit when they accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the devil. Jesus said that this type of communication coming out of our mouths will not be forgiven. So let me ask you, even when you are not speaking against your blessings, have you been guilty of speaking against the Holy Spirit? Have you witnessed God moving and wrote it off as someone faking or it was something that was staged? Has the Holy Spirit moved in your life and you spoke about it with the attitude that says it was “no big deal” thus downplaying what the Holy Spirit had done for you. This is not that much different from what the scribes at done.
My point is this, our words are very powerful. When we speak, we often speak out of our hearts, from what we believe and have faith in and therefore when we speak against our blessings (or anything else) those words carry an impact that we were not expecting. Someone once said that you should be very careful as to what you say and this is very true. Remember, when you release words, whether you’re talking about yourself, your situation or someone else, the words you speak will carry the power to do good or bad. If you are unsure of the impact of something you’re getting ready to say, choose not to say it. Now lets move on to the blessing and how it is so easy to speak against what God is doing in our lives.
II. Being Blessed And Appreciating It
The word “bless/blessed” carries a similar meaning in both the original Hebrew and Greek dictionaries. When focused on God it means to kneel before Him in adoration giving thanks. This also includes worshipping and praising God indicating our gratitude to God. When humans bless God the literal sense is to “bend the knee” (in homage or adoration.) To bless also means to grant prosperity or well-being and God is generally the subject, bestowing physical and spiritual grace upon man in the form of long life, affluence and power. He blessed mankind in creation and throughout history and continues to do so today. We also have the opportunity to bless one another, our children and other family members and even strangers. When we ask God’s favor (blessings) for someone other than ourselves that is a form of blessing that other person. In this we recognize God as the source of the benefit (the good fortune) that comes to men. When we choose to bless ourselves, we generally count ourselves as happy or priding ourselves as receiving some favor (maybe a job promotion). We also have times when we bless objects – for example when you bless your new home that you just moved into. These different types of blessing carries a common link, they lead to happiness – a sense of well-being and favor. When the focus is on us receiving a blessing it aligns more with the term of us being happy. It carries the idea of a sense of gratitude and thankfulness for something that was received by us. The state of being blessed indicates receipt of both favor and adoration. Both the Hebrew and the Greek words occur primarily with the sense of being “happy or fortunate” illustrating the joy of life unmarred by care, labor, or death.
With that said, consider this. One of the meanings of being blessed has to do with us being happy. In several references in the New Testament the word “blessed” is translated as “happy” (the beatitudes). We all know that there is a difference between happiness and joy. Joy is internal and comes from the Lord and is not based on circumstances. We can be joyful regardless of our circumstances. Happiness is based on circumstances. Happiness happens when something changes around us that we perceive to be good (a blessing). We get a raise in salary – we’re happy. We get a new car or house, we’re happy. Happiness comes when something “happens” to us. Now, if to be blessed means that we are to be happy, then it makes sense that we should find happiness in those things that God provide for us. The other thing to remember is that happiness is a choice – we choose to be happy, and this is the point of this message.
God gives us “blessings” and these blessings should make us happy. I have shared with you that God does not care about or is motivated by our happiness. He blesses us, but He cannot control our happiness. Our happiness is completely within our control. Let me give you an example. God tells someone to give you one dollar and the person does so. The person who gave you the dollar is blessed because they heard God and did as He commanded. They walk away from you happy (blessed) because they did as God commanded. Now, as the one who received the dollar, you have one dollar more than what you had before you were blessed. If you already had $1000 in your billfold, this one dollar increase probably would not add to your state of mind as being blessed. You’d probably tell the person to keep the dollar because you did not need it. However, if you were broke and hungry and had no money in your billfold, you’d take this dollar and you would feel happy and blessed. Now notice the difference. The source of the money was the same. The amount of money was the same. The only difference was your attitude when you were “offered” the blessing. God wants us to understand that it is not about what we receive as far as us being blessed, it about our attitude towards what we receive. It is during those times when we receive a blessing that we do not “consider to be great” that we get into the habit of speaking against them. Those words that are spoken against our blessings actually carry enough power to diminish the blessings. If spoken often enough, those words will stop us from recognizing and accepting the fact that we are blessed and should be happy. This covers every aspect of our lives, from what we receive from others to what we do for others. It includes our material things as well as those things we receive that do not have a monetary value. If we speak against our abilities – calling ourselves a failure, our words will put into action the faith that is behind what we say and the next thing we know we are failing. Likewise, if we speak to our abilities, that we are capable, that we are worthy, that we can do what is being asked of us, we will find ourselves rising to the occasion and doing the job. Are you speaking against your blessings?
Conclusion
The purpose of this message today is to raise our sensitivity and awareness around how we negate the fullness of God’s blessings in our lives when we speak against them. God blesses us, but He cannot control our happiness. As I mentioned before, we are the ones controlling our happiness. Regardless of how big or small our blessing, we get to determine how we receive and respond to it. If we speak against the small blessings, before long we will be speaking against our big blessings. When we get to that point we will fail to recognize that we are blessed at all and will live a life that is marred by many moments of unhappiness.
May God touch you through this message and may you fully recognize just how blessed you are. Take care.
