Tag: bless

Romans 12:14 – Blessing, Not Cursing

Posted on by Will

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not wish them evil.

Truth to Learn

Being Christ-like is really, really hard – but not impossible.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “bless” is eulogeō, which is a compound word made up of eu, meaning “good or well” and a form of the noun logos, meaning “a word,” or the thoughts behind the word. So Paul is telling us that we should have good thoughts and say good things about those who persecute us. One more thing about the word translated “bless” is the fact that it is expressed in the imperative mood, which means that this is a command that Paul is giving us, not simply a suggestion.

“Persecute” is translated from a form of the Greek word diōkō, which is the same root as the word in the previous verse which was translated as “pursuing.” There we saw that this word means “to pursue” or “to persecute.” In other words, it means to be continually going after something, whether for good or for evil.

The Greek word translated “wish them evil” is kataraomai. This is the verb form of katara. This is made up of kata, meaning “down,” but often used as an intensifier, and ara. This word, ara, originally referred to “a prayer,” but over time it came to mean an imprecatory prayer or a wish for evil. In other words, it refers to a curse, or wish for a deity to execute upon someone. So we see that kataraomai refers to a prayer in which we ask God to take vengeance for us.

 

Meaning Explained

Now Paul gets down to a really difficult aspect of how Christians should act. He says that we should bless those who persecute us. The use of the word translated “persecute” may be a bit of a play on words by the Apostle Paul. We should be constantly pursuing opportunities to be hospitable to others (verse thirteen), and we should speak well of those who constantly pursue opportunities to do evil to us (verse fourteen).

Most Christians have experienced the pain of having someone make life difficult for them. It may have been because of something we have done, or it may have been completely unjustified. In either case, our natural reaction is to speak evil of them and maybe even pray that God would punish them for what they are doing. However, Paul tells us that instead of wishing revenge through imprecatory prayers, we should speak well of the one or ones persecuting us.

Is this easy? Absolutely not! Our fallen nature wants us to get revenge on those who continually try to do evil to us, but the Holy Spirit wants us to be Christ-like. As Jesus was lying on top of the cross having nails driven into His hands so that He could be tortured in a most painful manner, He said,

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

If ever there was a person who would have been justified in asking God to take vengeance on those who are mistreating Him, it was Jesus. Instead of that, however, He prayed that they would be forgiven.

 

Application

Is there someone right now who is making your life difficult, someone who is persecuting you? If so, ask God to make this verse real to you and ask Him to empower you through the Holy Spirit to speak well of (and to) the person responsible for your pain.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

James 3:9 – Offending God?

Posted on by Will

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.

Truth to Learn

When we curse a fellow member of the human race it is offensive to the God who created us.

Behind the Words

The word “bless” is translated from the Greek word eulogeō. This is a compound word made up of eu, meaning “good” and logeō, meaning “word.” Hence, James is saying that we say good things about God. This word could be translated as “bless” or “praise.” This Greek word is expressed in the present tense, active voice, and indicative mood, meaning present continuous action (we are continually blessing God).

“Curse” is from the verb form of katara, which is made up of kata, meaning “against” and ara, which originally meant “a prayer” but came to mean “a curse which a deity was to perform against someone.” Thus, we see that this word refers to “requesting evil against someone else.” This verb is expressed in the present tense, middle voice, and indicative mood. The middle voice implies that we are cursing ourselves. That is, we are cursing members of mankind (of which we are a part).

The Greek word translated “similitude” is homoiōsis, from the verb homoioō, which means “to make like” or “to make in a similar form.” Hence, homoiōsis means “to have a similar form” or “to have a likeness.” Although it often does, it does not have to refer to physical appearance.

Meaning Explained

James reminds us that with our tongues we are continually offering praise and blessing to our Lord. And well we should, because he is worthy of all our praise! He is our Heavenly Father who has created us and has given us spiritual life through the blood of His Son. Unfortunately, we use the same tongue to continually curse our fellow human beings who have been made in the image of God. In Genesis 1:26, 27 we are told that God intentionally made us in His image.

This image, however, is not a reference to our physical form. We know this because Paul tells us in Philippians 2:6, 7 that Jesus already had the form of God (because He is God) and He took on the form and likeness of Man:

who, being in the form of God, … taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

Mankind was a special creation of God, separate and distinct from all the animals. He gave man intellect, a moral nature, the power to communicate with others, and an emotional nature. These are characteristics of God which He only gave to humans. These are the ways in which we have been made in His likeness. Because we bear this likeness, this family resemblance, it is an act of deprecation against God Himself to curse man.

In the next verse we will see how James really feels about the tongue being used for both blessing and cursing.

Application

Try putting your ear in front of your own mouth (no, not literally, figuratively) and listen carefully to all you say. Are you continually blessing God, or offending Him?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 12:14 – Blessing, Not Cursing

Posted on by Will

Romans 12:14 – Blessing, Not Cursing

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Truth to Learn

Being Christ-like is really, really hard – but not impossible.

Behind the Words

The word translated “bless” is eulogeō, which is a compound word made up of eu, meaning “good or well” and a form of the noun logos, meaning “a word,” or the thoughts behind the word. So Paul is telling us that we should have good thoughts and say good things about those who persecute us. One more thing about the word translated “bless” is the fact that it is expressed in the imperative mood, which means that this is a command that Paul is giving us, not simply a suggestion.

“Persecute” is translated from a form of the Greek word diōkō, which is the same root as the word in the previous verse which was translated as “given to.” There we saw that this word means “to pursue” or “to persecute.” In other words, it means to be continually going after something, whether for good or for evil.

The Greek word translated “curse” is kataraomai. This is the verb form of katara. This is made up of kata, meaning “down,” but often used as an intensifier, and ara. This word, ara, originally referred to “a prayer,” but over time it came to mean an imprecatory prayer, that is, a curse which a deity was to execute upon someone. So we see that kataraomai refers to a prayer in which we ask God to take vengeance for us.

Meaning Explained

Now Paul gets down to a really difficult aspect of how Christians should act. He says that we should bless those who persecute us. The use of the word translated “persecute” may be a bit of a play on words by the Apostle Paul. We should be constantly pursuing opportunities to be hospitable to others (verse thirteen), and we should speak well of those who constantly pursue opportunities to do evil to us (verse fourteen).

Most Christians have experienced the pain of having someone make life difficult for them. It may have been because of something we have done, or it may have been completely unjustified. In either case, our natural reaction is to speak evil of them and maybe even pray that God would punish them for what they are doing. However, Paul tells us that instead of seeking revenge through imprecatory prayers, we should speak well of the one or ones persecuting us.

Is this easy? Absolutely not! Our fallen nature wants us to get revenge on those who continually try to do evil to us, but the Holy Spirit wants us to be Christ-like. As Jesus was lying on top of the cross having nails driven into His hands so that He could be tortured in a most painful manner, He said,

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. (Luke 23:34)

If ever there was a person who would have been justified in asking God to take vengeance on those who are mistreating Him, it was Jesus. Instead of that, however, He prayed that they would be forgiven.

Application

Is there someone right now who is making your life difficult, someone who is persecuting you? If so, ask God to make this verse real to you and ask Him to empower you through the Holy Spirit to speak well of (and to) the person responsible for your pain.

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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