Re-speaking God’s Good Words to Ourselves and Others

If blessing means “to speak good words over something or someone,” what a powerful message of blessing comes to us from Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:3-14. He tells us that God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (1:3). Every spiritual blessing. Just that one word sets the tone of this entire letter. God has not held anything back but pours out the full extent of all His blessings upon His people. So, to the full extent possible, God speaks good words over us. Paul enumerates those blessings one after another:

• chosen before creation
• predestined to adoption to sonship
• redeemed through Christ’s blood
• forgiveness of sins
• lavished with God’s grace
• knowledge of God’s will
• sealed with the Holy Spirit

It seems as if it is not that Paul has run out of blessings to mention, but rather that he has run out of room in the sentence he is writing to express any more of God’s blessings. God speaks all these good realities into us through Christ.

If God speaks so many good words—so many blessings—over our lives, why is it that we speak so many bad words over our lives and the lives of others? Why is it that we fill our mouths, our ears, and our lives with so many negative messages? Why do we erode the abundance of God’s blessings through the poisonous waters of human cursing and negativity?

If God speaks so many good words over our lives, what might it mean to know those good words and to echo them into our lives by recounting them and speaking them forth daily? The old hymns says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one.” Counting our blessings first of all means knowing those blessings, some of which Paul listed for us in Ephesians 1. We need to know the content and significance of the good words that God has spoken over our lives.

Secondly, it means speaking those good words over our lives again and again. Perhaps today we could simply pick up those words of blessing and say, “I have been lavished with God’s grace. I’ve been forgiven. I’ve been redeemed in Christ.” When we re-speak God’s good words over our lives it keeps us centered in what is true.

Thirdly, counting our blessings means giving God praise with our mouths for the blessings He has given to us. God blesses us and we bless Him back. God speaks good words over us and we speak good words over Him in return.

When we not only hear the blessings of God but re-speak them over our lives, our outlook changes. We are not limited by our circumstances but are transformed through the truth of God’s blessings. Even if many things do not change, we know who we are and whose we are in God through Christ.

But the work of blessing continues beyond ourselves. What would it look like if, having heard God’s blessings and re-spoken them over our own lives, we then re-speak God’s blessings over others? What goodness might come from our interactions today if, as Jesus said, we bless others even if they curse us (Luke 6:28)? What grace might we offer in our words by speaking life into those who are downcast and feel as if life is robbed from them (Proverbs 18:21)? May God guide our words to reflect His blessing into the life of each person we encounter today.

May we know God’s blessings and may we turn our own words toward ourselves and others in blessing as well. May we re-speak what God has first spoken to us.