Be Mindful to be a Blessing in 2017 by Rose McCormick Brandon

As a new year begins, I’m struck by my need to care, not about things, the condition of the world, politics, entertainment and other things, but to care about people.
Our purpose for living is to love, to care. Specifically, to care about God and others.
God cares about people. Jesus perfectly demonstrated this by sacrificing His life on the cross. He showed that, above all else, people matter.
People are confused, lost, in denial, wounded and broken. Our purpose for living, the reason we’re alive, the reason we know Christ, is to share His love with them.
Someone said, “Most human problems stem from the fact that we treat people as things and things as people.” God’s interest is always in people, not things.
This phrase in Galatians 6:10 touched my heart - "Be mindful to be a blessing.”
I love the word, “mindful.” Wherever we go, whatever we do, we should be mindful to bless others in our conversation and actions. Being mindful means that we’re conscious of our actions and words, conscious of their effect on others. Their effect should be to bless.
A tall order.
Can I be mindful all the time? Probably not. But, I can try. And with God keeping my mind full of His purpose, I can definitely improve.
God’s incredible purpose for me is that I lift the fallen, encourage the fainthearted and give hope to the hopeless. Without purpose, my life shifts in whatever direction the winds of change take it. Right now, winds of unrest unsettle the globe. As a Christian, I can’t become unmoored by these but remain constant in my endeavor to bless.
What I notice in others who are steadfast in their purpose of being a blessing is that nothing, no loss or unrest, changes them. They keep on blessing others, speaking of Jesus at every opportunity, praying with diligence; their love for others motivates them.
They are my mentors.

Prayer: Father, as I drag myself into a new year, fill my heart with purpose. Remind me of the reason I exist – to be a blessing. Let me not run away from this responsibility but help me to embrace it. People are your priority. Help me to make them my priority.


Rose McCormick Brandon is the author of four books, including One Good Word Makes all the Difference and Promises of Home - Stories of Canada's British Home Children. She writes personal essays and devotionals for several publications.