Rich, beautiful, and healthy. That’s the meaning of blessing, right? Maybe in the Old Testament. The New Testament, however, paints a different picture, and the Chief Apostle explains this again and again.
Blessing is increase. “No,” says Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider. “Increase is, if it occurs, a side effect of blessing.” There is more to discover on this subject in an interview of sorts entitled “Blessing. What does it mean exactly?”
“Above all, God wants to grant us spiritual blessing. It’s all about our soul.” This was a key sentence in a divine service in Glasgow in Scotland in 2024. “And then the letter to the Ephesians goes on to list a whole series of blessings.”
Blessing means: going through thick and thin with God. The Chief Apostle explained this in Cape Town in South Africa in 2023 using the example of Joseph. And in 2016 in Ulm, Germany he described blessing using the example of Jacob and the fivefold blessing he experienced.
Blessing and success are not mutually exclusive, the Chief Apostle pointed out in 2017 in a divine service in N’Djamena in Chad: Blessing is when success does not come at the expense of our faith. Blessing is when failure does not cost us our faith. Blessing is when our own success does not harm others. Blessing is when this kind of success serves as an example for others.
Blessing cannot be earned. But sometimes we must struggle for it—like Jacob. The Chief Apostle explained this in more detail in Dornhan, Germany in 2022. And in 2016 in Bogotá, Colombia he presented seven keys to divine blessing.
And there was an advanced lesson in Wiesbaden in 2019: one Bible text, three images, many springs, and a cycle. When it comes to blessing, there is certainly no dearth.
Photo: Bonsales – stock.adobe.com