By Paul Mumeh The word ‘transformation’ is fast gaining currency, especially in the nation’s political lexicon. President Goodluck Jonathan literarily rode to the presidency in the April 2011 general election on a transformation mantra.
I doubt there is any human being who does not pray or desire to be blessed. Some go to great extents to try to buy blessings. God has poured out his blessings on all of us but we need to position ourselves to receive them. Let us consider how we can attract and operate in an atmosphere of blessings. It is made up of a series of decisions, attitudes and actions. Here they are:
Love your neighbour as yourself. One of the secrets of life is that we are all linked; we are all one. And so when one person hurts, we all hurt although many of us do not realize it or feel it. If someone dies, we are all diminished; and if a child is born, we are all enhanced. Once in a while, something happens in the world to show us that we are one. In April 2010, the airspace of Europe was closed for about five days, because a volcano in Iceland was spewing ash into the air. This ash from Iceland affected life and business in Europe and the rest of the world. It affected farm workers in Ghana because exporters of fresh fruit and flowers could not get their produce to the markets in Europe. No human being is an island sufficient unto himself. What happens to you happens to me even though it may not seem obvious to the uninitiated. The truth is: what I do to you, I do to myself; what you do to me, you do to yourself. So, when I do not love my neighbour, I do not love myself and my joy will never be complete and I will not enjoy my blessings even when they are poured into my lap.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I call this the ultimate investment. When you do unto others what you would have them do unto you, you invest in your own best interest because when the returns for your actions come, it will be just what you want. This truth is based on a proven life principle that says, you reap what you sow. When you sow goodwill, you will reap goodwill; when you sow generosity, you will reap generosity. The returns on your action may not come when you expect it but you will not lose or miss it.
Honour your father and your mother. This is the first commandment with a promise. And the promise is that when we honour our parents, we would enjoy long life. Anyone who does not honour his parents curses himself.
Be great at forgiving those who offend you. We need to remind ourselves often that forgiveness benefits the one who forgives even more than the one who is forgiven. Holding grudges and harbouring bitterness poisons our system; it is like injecting poison and hoping that your enemy will die.
Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. The natural tendency is to be quick to speak, quick to become angry and very slow to listen. The result is that we often find ourselves regretting the consequences of our words and actions; then we wish we had taken a little more time before speaking or acting. When we are quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, we spare ourselves a lot of pain, regret and anguish arising from rash decisions and actions and we enjoy our blessings.
Do not be anxious. Anxiety poisons our system, blinds us to solutions and steals our joy. The anxious person brings all possible problems and dangers of the future into his present and allows them to steal his joy and peace. To be on the path to blessings, we will have to learn not to be anxious.
Trust in God. An American President was asked if he trusted in God and he said, “I would be very scared if I didn’t.” Life throws all kinds of obstacles and challenges at us. Those who have no trust in God buckle under the burdens of life but those who have trust in God find the inner resources to keep on keeping on even through the worst of times.
Serve and work wholeheartedly. One of the traits of those who are miserable is their refusal to serve wholeheartedly. Those who want to be served never find true happiness and blessings elude them. To help you serve and work with your whole heart, consider whatever you do as something you are doing for God. It will help you serve with a smile.
Give. The truth is that it is more blessed to give than to receive. This is because when we give, we receive more than we have given. Those who do not give do not receive and their blessings keep reducing.
Watch your thoughts. Thoughts manifest reality. Negative thoughts give birth to negative reality. Positive thoughts on the other hand bring us positive reality. The Bible gives us what to focus on in our thoughts. It says, we should think of whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable and whatever is excellent or praiseworthy.
Be humble. The scriptures paint a frightening picture of the proud. It says that God opposes the proud. In other words, the proud person has God himself as his opponent. The scriptures also say that pride goes before a fall. Whenever pride enters the heart of an individual, that person is on his way to destruction. Therefore the humble person is blessed because he receives grace from God. God lifts the humble. No one can call himself blessed if he is not humble.
These are some of the steps that lead to blessings. There are no short cuts to living a blessed life; there is no mystery about it and there is no magic to it. It is a matter of choosing to follow a series of simple steps consistently until they become your lifestyle. Then you will manifest the blessings God has so graciously prepared for you.
