Genuine Blessings
In my experience as a mental health professional, trying to teach people how to think in new ways, retraining their patterns of thinking and believing, I found that it was important to start by questioning their flawed or misguided beliefs, revealing what originally led them to an unhealthy place or lifestyle. Often it was these distorted thoughts and ungodly behaviors that motivated them to seek counseling in the first place.
I think most people would agree, we live in a very disturbing world, with violence, rage, anxiety and division. There is so much disharmony between the people of this world today. People on every continent are suffering right now, mentally and emotionally, and many people have a heightened sense of fear like never before. Things have happened in recent years that have caused families a lot of grief, sometimes even resulting in total division. Parents and children turning on one another, different generations being judgmental and dismissive of each other. Our current way of thinking and believing is simply not working, which, believe it or not, has been happening since the beginning of time, discord and tragedy happen whenever a society relies on the world for its mindset. If worldly advice and fleshly desires propose happy endings, feelings of fulfillment and success, then why is everyone so miserable? Even if you do experience joy by society’s standards, isn’t it just for a moment?
The only way to receive genuine blessings is to live your life for God, by following the instruction found in His Word. An introduction to having this God-honoring mindset would be through Jesus’ teaching of the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are a portrait of the ideal citizen in Christ’s Kingdom. And the word blessed which proceeds each of these biblical principles is not like most would recognize it to be in the world, it is not defined by having a full stomach or experiencing a moment of satisfaction, rather, Jesus says to those who seek His Kingdom, they will be “blessed” with a divine disbursement of peace, love, joy, fulfilment and overall well-being in life, that can only be experienced through being faithful to your Father in Heaven and seeking to set your mind on eternity.
It can be difficult to hold onto this Kingdom perspective, the programming of this modern world is loud and all around you, but if you earnestly, with all of your heart, mind and soul seek the Lord, He will reveal Himself and His ways to you. You will attain a type of spiritual energy and renewal that no amount of food, alcohol, medication, or even sleep could ever produce. You will experience a level of joy that no amount of drugs, exercise or fancy vacations could ever deliver. And you will enjoy a type of exhilarating purpose that no amount of sex, career goals, or perfect relationship was ever meant to achieve.
I encourage you to challenge some of your thoughts and behavioral patterns today, ones that perhaps tend to line up more with worldly teaching than those being taught by Jesus. Seek first the Kingdom, and you will be blessed in a way the promises of this world never could.