Feeling Blessed vs Being Blessed

We feel blessed when someone else, God or people, do good to us. We are blessed by something entirely different. Receiving things might make us feel blessed, but as Jesus had taught the Apostles, blessing is obtained through giving, not receiving (Acts 20:35).

Likewise, the Sermon on the Mount by our Lord Jesus began with affirmations of blessing, but not as we normally think of it.

Earthly riches might make you feel blessed,
but it is spiritually poverty that makes one blessed.

Happy partying might make you feel blessed,
but it is genuine mourning that makes one blessed.

A high self-esteem might make you feel blessed,
but it is gentle humility that makes one blessed.

A full fridge, cupboard, and stomach might make you feel blessed,
but it is craving for righteousness that makes one blessed.

Insisting on your rights might make you feel blessed,
but it is showing mercy that makes one blessed.

Sinful indulgences might make you feel blessed,
but it is internal purity that makes one blessed.

Arrogant persistence might make you feel blessed,
but it is peacemaking that makes one blessed.

Forceful dominance might make you feel blessed,
but it is righteous suffering that makes one blessed.Adaptation from Matthew 6:3-12

Feeling blessed doesn’t make you blessed, but doing the things that makes you blessed, also makes you feel blessed. Are you seeking to be blessed, or are you just seeking to feel blessed?