Should We Ditch this Phrase?

mkgal1

His perfect way sets me free. 2 Samuel 22:33
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I originally posted this in the "marrieds" sub forum....but would actually like to include others as well.

This is what I'm referring to:

The phrase? I’m blessed.

When blogger and former missionary Scott Dannemiller caught himself using the words recently, he decided that it was time to jettison them. Here’s why:

“I've noticed a trend among Christians, myself included, and it troubles me. Our rote response to material windfalls is to call ourselves blessed. Like the ‘amen’ at the end of a prayer.

“ ‘This new car is such a blessing.’

“ ‘Finally closed on the house. Feeling blessed.’

“ ‘Just got back from a mission trip. Realizing how blessed we are here in this country.’

“On the surface, the phrase seems harmless. Faithful even. Why wouldn't I want to give God the glory for everything I have? Isn't that the right thing to do?

“No.”

Dannemiller thinks the problem with this phrase is that we’ve lost sight of what a true blessing is. For American Christians in particular, “I’m blessed” comes across as simply a matter of material gain:

“First, when I say that my material fortune is the result of God's blessing, it reduces The Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers. I can't help but draw parallels to how I handed out M&M's to my own kids when they followed my directions and chose to poop in the toilet rather than in their pants. Sure, God wants us to continually seek His will, and it's for our own good. But positive reinforcement?…

“Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar ‘blessing’ per day.”

In other words, when we tie “blessing” to prosperity, we belittle those in other parts of the world who can’t afford the basic necessities. Does that mean they’re “not blessed” because they don’t have cars and houses like we do?

But not so fast, says another Christian blogger on the site Chasing Crazy. Let's hold off on getting rid of the phrase. For this writer, “being blessed” isn’t about what we have or some claim to deserving prosperity. It’s about what Jesus did for us:

“Recently there has been a big kerfuffle over Christians saying “I am blessed”. [sic] Many are vowing to stop saying it. I will never stop proclaiming that I AM blessed....
~
The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying? - Trending Christian Blog
 

Elliewaves

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I'm not into judging people for the reasons they feel blessed. or nitpicking their feelings about blessedness apart. Should people be careful not to throw around saying like this carelessly? Probably, but if they don't and come across as calloused or material wealth oriented; I'm not going to beat them up about it. Maybe they have been at a point in life where they did struggle to make ends meet and so now they truly feel blessed b/c they don't have to struggle that hard in that area. I'm not going to presume to know someone's story and tell them what feelings to have about their own life. Nor would I judge someone and think they are insincere for saying they are blessed. I do think there is something incredibly wrong with trying to control someone's descriptive words about their own life. A bit too "thought police" for me. If person A is hearing person B say they are blessed and person A immediately purses their lips and thinks "They have too much material wealth,or love, or luck to say/feel/ think they are blessed!" , then not only does person A have too much time on their hands; they also have a twisted way of thinking. I don't begrudge the feeling of blessedness to anyone.
 
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When I say or feel that I am blessed, I don't mean it in any materialistic way. I feel I am blessed because I have the love and care of my family, a nice house to live in (roof over my head), modern day amenities such as a working toilet, shower/bath tub, couch, internet, and that I have the unconditional love and loyalty from my 2 dogs. One which we just adopted from a rescue organization. He is a bit neurotic due to being abused, starved, possibly beaten, but the love and happiness he provides to our family is something that can only be a true blessing from God.

We are blessed in that we have a steady retirement income to depend on, many people don't have that. But to say one is blessed because they have a new car, or something of that nature really depends on what it actually means to the person saying it.

Yes, perhaps they finally saved up enough money to get a new (or used, "new to them") car and now they will have reliable transportation and they feel blessed to have been able to work through the struggles associated with unreliable or nonexistant transportation.

For those that judge others based on material things, it makes me sad to know people are so judgmental and unfeeling. I try not to judge other people as it is not my place to judge anyone. That is God's job. I don't know what is going on in their life, I can't see what they see. I do feel that for those that are judgmental of others happiness or wealth that they have a negative outlook on life. If they identify as Christian I would hope they seek counsel to help them change their attitude. There is much more to life than material goods, and honestly, that is only a tiny portion of what life is about.

I'm on a journey to find myself (is that even possible?) and to grow spiritually, to seek to be the best person I can be. It's tough when you don't have any friends who share your beliefs, and are a loner by nature. I hope to overcome my shyness, my social awkwardness and to bloom into what God wants me to be, who he made me to be. I just have to find the right people to help me overcome these flaws.
 
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Drumfan84

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I agree that it might be taking things a step far to say someone is "blessed" for gaining materialistic things. But, as it's been said by others, I think it depends on the individual's situation.

God knows we struggle. The courage and strength to get through our personal adversities are some of the greatest things He could give us as Christians. God does not, and will not just "give" us a house, a car, clothes, etc. (yes, in certain circumstances a place to stay, food, and clothing are provided for those despearately in need of them... those are truly blessings, to those people). However, if I were to get a new home, a new/used car, or anything like that, I would feel blessed becaused God allowed me to get through the struggle of not having those things, and allowing me to work towards obtaining them. I see nothing wrong with saying someone is "blessed" if they've had to struggle and are now in a place where they no longer have to.
 
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mkgal1

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I do think there is something incredibly wrong with trying to control someone's descriptive words about their own life.

Oh! I absolutely agree. I didn't take the blog message to be about judging other's use of the word, "blessing", but more on a personal level (and our use of it). Like you said......we can't presume what a person means (or their intentions behind it) based on "buzzwords" (*that's* a whole other peeve of mine--automatic labeling & categorizing based on word usage).
 
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mkgal1

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When I say or feel that I am blessed, I don't mean it in any materialistic way. I feel I am blessed because I have the love and care of my family, a nice house to live in (roof over my head), modern day amenities such as a working toilet, shower/bath tub, couch, internet, and that I have the unconditional love and loyalty from my 2 dogs. One which we just adopted from a rescue organization. He is a bit neurotic due to being abused, starved, possibly beaten, but the love and happiness he provides to our family is something that can only be a true blessing from God.

This makes me think of the verse that says, "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow" (James 1:17). I think that also goes along with Jesus' own words when He said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." I believe that if someone is having difficult times.....that's not from God....that's because of our fallen world (and our enemy).

BTW....there is something about a dog that's known neglect, and possibly cruelty, and their ability to respond to genuine love. They seem to have a real keen sense of who is "for" them and whom is "against" them (and really appreciate those that are for them---and forgiving the one's that have been against them).
 
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mkgal1

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I agree that it might be taking things a step far to say someone is "blessed" for gaining materialistic things. But, as it's been said by others, I think it depends on the individual's situation.

God knows we struggle. The courage and strength to get through our personal adversities are some of the greatest things He could give us as Christians. God does not, and will not just "give" us a house, a car, clothes, etc. (yes, in certain circumstances a place to stay, food, and clothing are provided for those despearately in need of them... those are truly blessings, to those people). However, if I were to get a new home, a new/used car, or anything like that, I would feel blessed becaused God allowed me to get through the struggle of not having those things, and allowing me to work towards obtaining them. I see nothing wrong with saying someone is "blessed" if they've had to struggle and are now in a place where they no longer have to.

I agree.
 
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