Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. (Ro 12:14 KJV)
I was not raised in the light of this scripture. It did not illuminate my path in the darkness caused by someone coming against me or my family, trying to limit or eliminate us. My response, fueled by a big dose of adrenalin, tended to be hostile.
The last time a situation like this presented itself, my wife and I discussed the circumstance and prayed. As I got alone and prayed after that, I kept being impressed with the words "bless and curse not." I was no longer a hostile person, but I sure was feeling some hostility and having some hostile imaginations.
"Bless, and curse not" comes from Romans 12 verse 14 noted above. The verse is real simple to understand and doesn't need a lot of explaining, but I will mention a few of the words.
- To persecute means "to put to flight, drive away or pursue in a hostile manner.
- To bless means to invoke (pray) or call down blessings or goodness upon a person.
- To curse means to speak curses, doom, imprecate evil on, to invoke (pray) or call down evil or curses upon a person.
The New Life Version words this verse "Pray and give thanks for those who make trouble for you. Yes, pray for them instead of talking against them. "
The more we talk about the situation, the bigger it will seem to us and the more it will bother us. As it keeps coming to our minds, we need to pray for and release blessings upon the "persecuter(s)."
We were not captured by God to speak curses, but to speak blessings. James 3:10 says: Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
1 Peter 3:9 makes it clear how we are to respond. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called . We are called to release blessings.
