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Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Being Christ-like is really, really hard – but not impossible.<\/p>\n The word translated \u201cbless<\/span>\u201d is euloge\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which is a compound word made up of eu<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cgood or well\u201d and a form of the noun logos<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201ca word,\u201d 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 \u201cbless<\/span>\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u201cPersecute<\/span>\u201d is translated from a form of the Greek word di\u014dk\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which is the same root as the word in the previous verse which was translated as \u201cgiven to.<\/span>\u201d There we saw that this word means \u201cto pursue\u201d or \u201cto persecute.\u201d In other words, it means to be continually going after something, whether for good or for evil.<\/p>\n The Greek word translated \u201ccurse<\/span>\u201d is kataraomai<\/em><\/span>. This is the verb form of katara<\/em><\/span>. This is made up of kata<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cdown,\u201d but often used as an intensifier, and ara<\/em><\/span>. This word, ara<\/em><\/span>, originally referred to \u201ca prayer,\u201d 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<\/em> <\/span>refers to a prayer in which we ask God to take vengeance for us.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cpersecute<\/span>\u201d 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).<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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,<\/p>\n Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.<\/span> (Luke 23:34<\/strong><\/span>)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\nTruth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
Application<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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