Blessing others is the very calling of the Christian: “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing” (1 Pet. 3:9). Again notice the multiple parties involved: (1) You, blessing somebody else, (2) somebody else, receiving your blessing, and (3) God, blessing you for blessing somebody else.To this you were called. I am using the terms “blessing” and “affirmation” synonymously here. Later we will see a distinction: while not all blessings come in the form of affirmations, all God-centered affirmations
...more

