How to Bless Your Children

The Practice of Blessing in the Bible In the Bible, when God first began to call a people to himself, he indicated that they were to be a blessing to others. Abraham was told that he and his sons (his children) were called to be a blessing to the nations. In Christ, this is fulfilled in all believers and their children. This is our calling, and it is to be passed down from generation to generation. “I will bless you and you will be a blessing...” (Genesis 12:2). Later, when Aaron was called to be the high priest, he and his sons were instructed to bless God's children. This idea continued throughout the Old Testament and into the New. Each generation is called to bless their offspring that they, in turn, might become the next generation of priests. While only Aaron and his sons were called to be the priests of God's people, today the calling has been expanded in a remarkable way. In our Christian families, the priesthood is fulfilled in believers and their children. All of us, in Christ, are called to be priests. Peter expresses it like this: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). This is our calling, and it is to be passed down from generation to generation - one generation of priests blessing their children in order that they, in turn, might become the next generation of priests. God shows us how we are to bless our children in the instruction He gave Aaron in Numbers 6:22-27: 3