Mark Batterson knows that God is in the blessing business. The bestselling author and lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C., also knows that although it’s God’s instinct to bless His people, it can take some action steps on our part see those infinite blessings come to fruition.
“We really must rediscover God’s heart toward us,” Batterson told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of “Greenelines” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “Before original sin, there was original blessing. God wants to bless us beyond our ability to ask or imagine.
“I think it’s so important that we understand He is not going to bless greed or pride or laziness. We’ve got to position ourselves for the blessing. Blessing is not good luck. It’s not zero gravity. At the end of the day, God is with us; He is for us; He is in us. But let’s not reduce it to a material thing. It’s joy unspeakable. It’s peace that surpasses all understanding.”
For Batterson, the revelation of blessing started with a simple experiment. Whenever he received a blessing, he would give a similar blessing away. If someone paid him a compliment or gave him a gift, he paid it forward.
“We flip the blessing by blessing others in the way God has blessed us,” Batterson says. “That’s how the blessing becomes a double blessing. It turns giving into a game—one we can’t win because God will always outgive us. In other words, we are blessed to be blessed. The first blessing is receiving, but it doesn’t end there. The second blessing is giving it away. That’s the double blessing.”
For more of how to receive God’s double blessing, listen to this podcast.
