Waverly Church of Christ

Would you consider your life a blessed life? What does it mean to be blessed? The answer to this question depends upon your viewpoint. Many consider themselves blessed if certain externals are in place: a. Health: A strong, healthy body. b. Financial Abundance: More than enough money to pay bills, enjoy some luxury items, travel and live comfortably. c. Loving Relationships: A happy family, a stable, loving home life and supportive friends. d. Success and Influence: Career advancement, high status, and the ability to achieve personal goals.  Others believe to be blessed our life must have more of an inward focus: a. Inner Contentment: A profound sense of peace and joy that remains even during trials, loss or suffering. b. Peace of Soul: The knowledge that our relationship with God is secure, our sins are forgiven, we are daily walking in His will. c. Inward Characteristics Which Promote Blessedness: Humble, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaker d. Dependence on God: We recognize our need for God instead of relying solely upon ourselves. Paul called upon them to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself had said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)  These words of Jesus are found nowhere else in Scripture.  It seems that those who were with Jesus during His earthly ministry had heard
Him say this and had passed it down to others.  There are two questions I want us to consider this morning: a. How do we live a blessed life? b. Why are those who give more blessed than those who receive?