Bless Them

Romans 12:14 says that you are to "bless them which persecute you...." It is very easy to bless those who bless you and make you happy, but how are you going to respond to people who persecute you and try to deliberately injure you? After 12 years of full time ministry I can say without a doubt this is one of the hardest things to do but it is possible if we yield ourselves to the Spirit of the Lord. 

The word "bless" is the Greek word eulogeo, a compound of the words eu and logos. The word eu means good or well and depicts any positive emotion. It is where we get the word euphoric. The second part of the word eulogeo is the word logos, which simply means words. But when these two words are compounded into the word eulogeo, it means to say good or positive things. The word eulogeo is where we get the word eulogy, which is the sermon preached at a funeral. It is supposed to be a time when good words are spoken in remembrance of the person who died.

So when Paul tells us to "bless them which persecute you...," he is literally telling us that we are always to return a blessing for a curse, speaking only good words about those who wish to harm us. Taking this route must be hard on the flesh, for the Greek tense describes a continual action, implying that we must speak well of these people again and again and again. Our flesh may rise up to point the finger of accusation at someone and charge him with dishonest and wrong conduct. But that's when we have to tell our flesh to be quiet! Instead of falling into the mode of accuser in an attempt to defend ourselves, we are to take the more godly route of blessing those who persecute us.

Paul says that when we are in these situations, we are to "curse not." The word  "curse" is the Greek word kataraomai, which simply means to verbally curse. In the ancient world, it was believed that when a person spoke good words about someone else, those words conveyed a blessing on that other person's life. Conversely, people believed that when someone spoke curses over another person, his very words caused curses to come upon that person's life.

This ancient belief in the power of words is actually borne out in the Scriptures. We should never forget the power that is contained in the words we speak. Proverbs 18:21 makes it very clear that the power of life and death is in the tongue.

Never underestimate the importance of how you react to those who persecute you. Your words of blessing and forgiveness can put to bed forever all the past wrongs ever committed against you. On the other hand, your words of retaliation can reignite the fire of opposition so that the same kind of opposition keeps reoccurring again and again. Let us guard our hearts and watch our tongues.