Do You Bless or Curse?

Much has been written recently about a well known minister’s comments which seemed to damn a nation. It is not my intent to discuss that issue here other than to reflect upon the power of words.

There’s a saying “Stick and Stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me” As children we all knew that this saying is not true no matter how much adults tried to convince us otherwise. Children instinctively know that words have power. But sadly, as we become adults many of us either forget about the power of words or we learn how to use that power for our own purposes. We learn how to bless or curse.

The bible states in Proverbs 18:21:

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]”. -- Amplified Bible (AMP)

Said another way,

“Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose.” - The Message (MSG)

This past Good Friday, I was reminded of a message by Victoria Boyson entitled, "The Power of Blessing". In this message Victoria recalls a young women who seemed to be extremely blessed but did not live or feel that way.

“I once knew a young girl who seemed to have a lot going for her, but consistently failed in many areas of her life. I could not understand why- she seemed to choose failure over a successful, happy life. She was beautiful, talented and intelligent, but it was obvious that she did not esteem herself. And she continually made bad choices.

For years I could not understand why she did not see her true value as a person - until I met her mother. Her mother saw her as the biggest failure ever born and told her so. She would vomit out her many objections about her daughter to anyone who would listen to her. With her daughter present she would declare to a roomful of people what a failure she was. It did not take great discernment to see why the girl struggled so. Why should she like herself when the woman who gave birth to her did not see any good in her?”

Did this mother realize that her ill spoken words were cursing her daughter? Probably not. Did the daughter realize that words that her mother spoke over her were the cause of her low self esteem? Maybe. But whatever the mother or the daughter did or did not realize or intend, the power of the words still accomplished their work

In the Old Testament the descendants of Abraham recognized the power of words. In fact the words of blessing from a father were so sought after that mothers and sons stooped to deception to obtain. Many of you recall the story of the lengths to which Rebekah and Jacob went to have Isaac bestow the blessing of the first born on Jacob. Genesis 27

Words have power to bless and to curse. YOU CHOOSE!

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” Deuteronomy 30:19 (New International Version)