Other than praying, what should you do when someone you love is not living up to their potential?
It does not take long to bless someone, and is not difficult. You are not helpless when people you love are wayward, discouraged, or unmotivated. In Christ Jesus, you have been given the power to bless!
The following are simple steps to speaking blessing:
1. Declare a virtue you see in a person more clearly than they perceive it in themselves;
2. Connect the virtue to their identity (you are helping them discover who they are!); and
3. Connect their virtuous identity to a hopeful future.
Imagine this. You are having a round of golf you played with your son when he was about fourteen. He started the match with the wrong hole—a double bogey. Golf can be annoying, but your son fought off the disappointment, threw no clubs (nothing), and with surprising coolness, played a good round despite the ugly start.
During your conversation on the way home, you casually said, “Son, earlier, when you made that double bogey to start your round, I could see you were exasperated. I know how it feels. You could have let disappointment take over, but instead, you kept your mind in the game and went on to play a good round of golf. The Bible has a word for that kind of virtue: self-control. In my experience, people with a lot of self-control go far in this world. Son, I see you growing into a young man who is full of self-control, and I think it will help you succeed in life.” That might take about thirty seconds, but you can imagine the impact words like that have.
This is one act shown in Veronica Lisare’s book The Other Side Of Fear: My Journey Into Perfect Love. The written words were speaking words of blessing about oneself, moving from abuse, crippling fear, and low self-esteem to knowing the ultimate love of God. Author W. Veronica Lisare has discovered courage, joy, hope, freedom, and fulfillment as she embraces her authentic identity as a daughter of the King of kings. She shares the intimate details of her journals from an unhappy childhood, through a loveless marriage, a divorce, the loss of a granddaughter, and a battle with cancer to a rewarding nursing job and a second career as a minister of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The testimony of the author and the spiritual tools she learned along the journey will inspire all who read it to move through their challenges to God’s perfect love and the other side of fear.
Who Is W. Veronica Lisare?
W. Veronica Lisare is a mother, grandmother, retired nurse, and a past missionary who spreads the Word of God whenever possible. She completed a two-year course at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California, and continues to share what she learned there. She leads many to discover their freedom through the Sozo ministry. Today she lives in Kelowna, B.C., where she teaches about prayer, volunteers at the Pregnancy Care Centre, and sits on the Board of Directors of her church.
Her first book is the Other Side of Fear: My Journey into Perfect Love. She notes her motivation for writing it was so that others “will be encouraged to trust God and know that their past does not have to dictate their future. They can be victorious and live full of faith and confidence.” Her passion is to pass on the spiritual truths she has learned so that others can be overcomers and walk in their divine destiny.
