Blessing
The 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
The Lord said to Abram: I will bless you ... so that you will be a blessing. ~ Genesis 12:2 (parts)
Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. ~ 1 Peter 3:9 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
Our purpose is to bless those around us.
PRAYER:
God, we have been extremely blessed by you. But we -- and I in particular -- have somehow missed the point of it all. I'm eager to keep as much blessing to myself as I can. Help me to turn my blessings into blessings for others. I'm going to join you in making sure that your blessings are spread to all creation. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
