Blessing and cursing...we do one or the
other with every word we speak. For some, sweetness pours off their
lips, revealing their sweet spirit. And then there are the rest of
us. Blessing does not come naturally to this soul. Those of us with
the spiritual gift of prophesy...NO, I am not a fortune teller, but a
prophet, one who warns...we speak warning words that can oppress when
they come from us and not from God. It is easier for me to see what
is wrong and want it fixed than it is to see what is right and
acceptable and praise and cheer and reward. But I do try not to curse
others. There are a precious few people in life that I see as truly
evil and wish the lightning bolt of God's judgment would fall on them
as an example to others that they are NOT the do-gooders that they
deceive people into thinking they are, but God has taught me that
cursing solves nothing and reveals a bitter spirit in me that is just
as bad as the evil spirit in them.
Cursing...if you have ever been cursed
by another person, it is the most devastating, demoralizing thing you
can go through. I don't mean just having them spew vile words in your
presence. I mean having them tell you off in a way that doesn't just
reveal to you that you let them down in some way, which might very
well be true. You did let them down. You did not be what they
expected. You failed to come through on a promise or attempt at
something on their behalf. Or you did nothing at all but believe
something differently than them, and they not only tell you that you
were wrong, but that you are the worst person on the planet, that
your motives were evil, that there is nothing you can do to make it
right, and that you are worthless. I can handle being told I am
wrong. (Sometimes it takes a few minutes to see that I AM wrong, but
then when I see it, I am ok with being corrected.) It's the
attributing of evil motives that I cannot handle. The refusing to see
that though the results were wrong, the attempt was good or at the
least, harmless. This person attacking David refused to bless,
refused to see any good in him. He was soooo wrapped up in cursing
David that that is how David envisioned him, wrapped in garments of
cursing. No good thing could come out of his mouth. He put on curses
and accusations and verses before say that this ungodly man LOVED
cursing people. He loved gossip and rumor and outright verbal abuse.
We all know the type. And at times I
can be the type. Nothing is right, no one is good enough, and people
see the garment of cursing on me and avoid me. I don't blame them. I
start listening to what is coming out of my pie hole and panic, and
then pray. I pray for sweet words. I pray for a new attitude of
gratefulness and graciousness. There are times when it is ok to
analyse and scrutinize, but it is never ok to curse. Learning to be
a blessing even in correction is a hard lesson to learn. I want to
shed the clothing of cursing. I want to bless, even in the midst of
seeing the need for change. That takes PLEADING with God to change my
insides to sweet water, for out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaks. How often the waters are bitter, revealing my bitter
soul. It is time to change clothes and realize that people see the
clothes we are wearing, be they of blessing or cursing. To have them
hanging on you is one thing, but to tie the belt on, to intentionally
gird yourself in cursing clothes shows that we have dug our heals in
and feel justified in our bad attitudes toward people and the God who
sends them into our lives. Shimei cursed David and David accepted
that as from the Lord. He let God humble him through that experience.
We hate being humbled. We hate letting the cursing person look like
they have something on us. What Shimei said was not necessarily
untrue. David hadn't always been a good leader and had plenty of
faults, but the public humiliation was an attack on his character,
not concern for his soul, or he would have made a private appeal
instead of a public scene. That is the difference. Cursing is a
public and personal form of humiliation rather than a private
confrontation of perceived problems. Having been on the receiving end
of a few rants against my character and conduct, I pray that I will delve into
the reality of the situation and not always trust that the perceptions I
have are right and true. I learn the older I get that things aren't
always as they seem. I try to give the benefit of the doubt to
someone that their intentions are good until they make it clear that
they are just as bad as I had wondered. And then I try to beg God's
mercy on them as I ponder the evilness of my own heart. I am as misguided, prideful, and self-absorbed as anyone. I just pray that
cursing would not be the default mode. God is the only one who can
truly curse someone, and the results of that are just downright
scary. We really shouldn't wish that on our worst enemy. But we are not God, don't know what is really at the heart of a man's anger, and cannot be the final judge of their lives. To curse them is to take on that role that we are not given by God. Like David, we give these people to God, knowing that others can see how they have dressed themselves. They aren't fooling anyone when they are dressed the part of the curser.
So cloth yourself with blessing. It's a
better look on you! Garments of cursing should be burned. Don't even
try to pass them on to Goodwill. They are too ugly for anyone to
wear, and the fabric is too rotted to salvage. Send them to hell
where they belong.
