Blessing and Forgiveness, Numbers 6

I heard a pastor talking about Mark 11:25, saying that one of the biggest reasons prayers aren’t answered and miracles don’t happen is 1 simple thing — unforgiveness. Unforgiveness clogs our spiritual pipes.

This morning I’m reading Numbers 6, and come to the priestly blessing.

The Priestly Blessing

Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing.
May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.
Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.
Numbers 6:23-27

Reading this, I thought, 1 Peter 2:9, tells us that we are royal priests. “Oh, how we need to pray this prayer for each other, to speak this over our families and friends.”

Then I got to thinking of Luke 6:28

‘Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. ‘
Luke 6:28

Servant Leadership

To be the Christ-followers and servant leaders we are called to be, we must pray for those with whom we disagree. Maybe someone from our past who hurt or harmed us in any way, maybe you need to forgive yourself. We need to forgive and bless those who curse us. I don’t think we can do that without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the power of Christ working through us. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us see people as Christ sees them.

I don’t know anything about these groups I’m linking to below, but I thought the post on forgiveness was great.

• I like this post on the benefits of forgiveness.
• And this is a good post about forgiveness: the ABCs of forgiving others.

Lately, the Holy Spirit is challenging me to define what it means to be a true Christ follower, a servant leader, and to take my calling as a representative of Christ seriously. I’m working on morning reflections with a couple of questions.

• How well did I serve Christ yesterday?
  (Looking back: Did I act with the heart of a servant?)
• How can I represent Christ today?
  (Looking forward: Where can I show His character?)
• Who needs to hear the priestly blessing today?
  (Is there anyone I am hesitant to bless?)