Have you ever found yourself in a situation where someone showered you with compliments in your presence, only to hear them speak negatively about you once you were out of earshot?

Such behavior is often referred to as being two-faced. I do not know of anyone who hopes to be badly spoken of.  I’m not very familiar with many people who make it their life goal to have a bad reputation and enjoy being spoken badly about.

It’s been my experience that most people I know like being liked and spoken well of. They especially enjoy it when someone they respect speaks well of them. No one that I know of would enjoy someone pretending to like them but then going away and speaking badly about them to others.

I know I would not want that.  I can’t say I have never spoken badly of by someone out there.  I have experienced someone making it their aim to make sure others thought of me according to their dislike of me due to an offense or disagreement.  It’s never my goal to have such experiences, but Jesus said such would happen.

I’m delighted to know that my Father in Heaven does not engage in such behavior. In fact, this truth about God led Paul to praise Him.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

When we say ‘blessed ‘, we are essentially saying ‘well spoken of ‘. In this case, it’s about speaking well of God.  Paul emphasizes that God is deserving of such praise. But why is this so?

Because God has spoken well of us and done good things to us and for us, there is something heavenly about us now that leads God to see us and think of us from a different perspective than when we were without Christ.

God speaks according to heavenly things concerning us now that we are in Christ.  He speaks well of us and says good things about us.  Where is this speaking taking place?  In heaven itself.  In the high courts of heaven where, God is seated on the throne.  God is not two-faced with us.  He is consistent, and He is able to do so based on what Jesus has done.

God does not say good things about us to win our affection and devotion.  He speaks good things about us because of the work His Son accomplished within us.  He speaks them because they are true because of Jesus.  The proof of this is explained as we read further in the text.

Ephesians1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

God is not changing His mind or His speech concerning you and me because it is based on the finished work of Jesus on our behalf.  He does not say something nice to us and then complain to the angels about us.  God, as our Father, is consistent in speaking good things over our lives.  You are well-spoken of today by the highest and greatest authority that has ever been known and will ever be known.  I hope that encourages you and sparks a desire in you to give Him praise.