When God called Abram (later to be named Abraham) to leave his father’s house and go to land he did not know he did so, not for the sake of Abram, but for the sake of others. He did so with the intention that he would be blessed for the purpose of blessing others and that through Abram and his descendants all the people on the earth would be blessed. God said to Abram,
“I will make you into a great nation and will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
(Genesis 12:2-3, NIV)
As Christ followers the Bible says that we are the adopted children of Abram (Romans 4) and are, therefore, the continued bearers of the charge to be a blessing to all nations. As we grow in our relationship with Christ it is always for the sake of others. As Robert Mulholland, retired professor from Asbury Seminary, says spiritual formation is “the process of becoming conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.”
Makes you wonder if Christians known by the world as those through whom blessing is experienced?