Christmas is a wonderful, magical time of year.\u00a0 Its awe and wonder capture the hearts of young and old alike. It is a time when we remember that our Lord left the glory of heaven and stepped into time as a little baby born in Bethlehem’s humble manger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such is the sentiment of John 1:14, \u201cThe Word\u00a0<\/strong>became flesh and took up residence <\/sup>among us.\u00a0 We observed His glory, the glory as of the One and Only\u00a0Son\u00a0from the Father, full of grace and truth.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus was the living Word that changed the course of history that first Christmas.\u00a0 He is the good word I want to encourage you to bring into our conversations as we gather with our children and grandchildren at our Christmas celebrations.\u00a0 The power of words cannot be underestimated, for they can be used positively and negatively.\u00a0 James 3:9-10a teaches, \u201cWe praise our <\/sup>Lord and Father with it, and we curse men who are made in God\u2019s likeness with it.\u00a0Praising and cursing come out of the same mouth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to invite you to consider how you can give your family members a positive word this Christmas.\u00a0 I want to challenge you to unleash the power of a spoken blessing.\u00a0 What is a blessing?\u00a0 To bless literally means \u201cto speak well of another; to be endowed with divine favour or protection.\u201d The etymology of the word is enlightening.\u00a0 The Latin root gives us benediction (to speak well of), the Greek means eulogize, and the Hebrew root means to bow the knee in worship.\u00a0 It is Christmas and like the shepherds and wisemen, let us once again bow the knee in worship of the divine Word born in Bethlehem.\u00a0 God is the source of all our blessings, who at the beginning of human history blessed the first family and said, \u201c\u2026Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.\u00a0 Rule the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls upon the earth.\u201d (Genesis 1:28) At Christ\u2019s baptism, the Father said, \u201c\u2026This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.\u201d (Matthew 3:17) God the Father set a precedent and gave us a powerful example of how to bless others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We must distinguish between a spoken blessing and prayers we give to God for our family. Prayer is directionally vertical when we look to God above and ask for His blessings upon our family. A spoken blessing is horizontal in which we address others on behalf of God. It is sourced in the character of God. As I speak for God to others, I must do it in a godly manner. It challenges me to be authentic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does a spoken blessing look like? Cavin Harper mentions three important ingredients that should be in the mix of a meaningful and well-spoken blessing in his book, Courageous Grandparenting<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Primero<\/strong>, you should give an affirmation of high value. Let your grandchild know they are special and identify a specific trait and how you value that trait. Help them understand that they are a treasured and loved image-bearer of God. Their value is not based on how they perform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Second<\/strong>, picture a special future of success and accomplishment based on God\u2019s purposes for their lives. Say something like \u201cI believe in you; God believes in you; you have value and purpose; you are loved.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Third,<\/strong> dedicate yourself to an ongoing active commitment. This active commitment is more than words. It is a demonstration of your determination to stay connected and a refuge in their time of need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spoken blessings are not a guarantee that everything is going to turn out as we hoped. But it is an act of faith in God expressing our trust in the grace of God that blessed our lives and the belief that God will do the same for our grandchildren. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, take us up on our challenge to share the good word this Christmas by speaking or writing a blessing to your children, grandchildren, parents, or someone who has been a spiritual mentor and role model in your life. And, please remember to encourage us by sharing your story of blessing in the comment section.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Christmas is a wonderful, magical time of year.\u00a0 Its awe and wonder capture the hearts of young and old alike. It is a time when we remember that our Lord left the glory of heaven and stepped into time as a little baby born in Bethlehem’s humble manger. Such is the sentiment of John 1:14, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/free-christmas-easyworship-backgrounds.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":893,"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacycoalition.ca\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}