Someone Tried To Curse Me
There have been a couple of times when someone tried to put a curse on me. They actually came out and said they were cursing me.
Many years ago when I was living in Boston, one night at our Wednesday evening church service, I talked to a man afterwards whom I had never seen there before. We got into an intense conversation very quickly.
He wanted me to sign a couple of large, hand lettered documents. One set out his beliefs about God and the universe. The other talked about all the ways he planned to save the world with his ideas.
Some of the ideas were generic enough, like loving your neighbor and being nice to people, but there were some things that were a long way from what Jesus said.
And his ideas for saving the planet sounded a bit naïve to me, like printing bumper stickers with catchy slogans.
I told him I didnt agree with all his propositions. He became furious.
I am not making this up. I promise. He said, I am King Bing Bang Walla Walla Blue Jay. You must sign these documents.
I declined. That made him even madder. He threatened me. He tried to sweet talk me. He tried everything he could think of. I remained quiet and did not respond to his threats.
Balak Could Not Curse The Children Of Israel
I love the story of Balak and Balaam in the book of Numbers.
Balak sees the vast hordes of the children of Israel and feels threatened. Hes afraid for his safety and for his geographical territory. Theres a clue as to why a person might think they want to curse someone, they are afraid. Or they want to be in control of their little world.
The remedy for fear is always love. Thats exactly why Jesus said love your enemies, bless those who curse you.
Balak tries repeatedly to get Balaam to curse the Israelites with every method of persuasiveness he can think of. But Balaam refuses to curse them because he knows God has blessed them. A curse would be pointless.
And even if Balaam had cursed the children of Israel, they would not have been cursed in Gods eyes.
Its an example of the promise in Proverbs, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.
Theres a lot more to that story and it gets pretty interesting including a talking donkey. If you want to read the whole thing, check it out in chapters 22 and 23 of Numbers.
The point is that Balak was trying to curse the Israelites, but it had no effect because God had blessed them.
Thats our protection too. God had blessed us. When we trust and obey God, we are protected and the undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.
Does that mean there is ever a curse that is deserved? No.
Bible Verses About Cursing
What does Scripture say about Cursing? Are Curse Words a Sin?
While today we may think of curse words simply as vulgarity, the Bible addresses the idea of cursing as a multitude of forms of speech. In the biblical context, cursing could be considered wishing ill upon another person or spreading falsehoods about them. Scripture directly tells us, bless and do not curse them. Furthermore, when it comes to how we should use our speech as Christians, the Bible puts an emphasis on telling the truth. As Matthew 5:37 says, But let your Yes be Yes, and your No,No. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Read more Bible verses about Cursing in this collection of scripture quotes.
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Putting Together The Curse Jar
Examples Of Cursing In The Bible
29. Psalm 10:7-8 His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness. He sits in the lurking places of the villages In the hiding places he kills the innocent His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.
30. Psalm 36:3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful they fail to act wisely or do good.
31. Psalm 59:12 Because of the sinful things they say, because of the evil that is on their lips, let them be captured by their pride, their curses, and their lies.
32. 2 Samuel 16:10 But the king said, What does this have to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD said to him, Curse David, who can ask, Why do you do this?
33. Job 3:8 Let those who are experts at cursing whose cursing could rouse Leviathan curse that day.
34. Ecclesiastes 10:20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
35. Psalm 109:17 He loved to pronounce a curse may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing may it be far from him.
36. Malachi 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name, says the LORD Almighty, I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
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We Must Guard Our Heart And Lips
11. Matthew 15:18-19 But whatever goes out of the mouth comes from within, and thats what makes a person unclean. Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and cursing come from within.
12. Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
13. Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
14. Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth Keep watch over the door of my lips .
Nailing The Curse To The Cross
The Gospel is the proclamation that God has borne our sin and judgment in his body on the tree, raising us to the newness of the resurrected life. The curse you deserve is nailed to the cross, forever forgotten. Birungi was beautifully reborn as a daughter and new creation whose identity is in God . Kawooya is the Kings son, an heir through God . Believers are in Christ and no longer in Adam, and, certainly, never in their ancestors or under their power.
Confessing the sins of our forefathers forgets that our true spiritual Father is God alone
Confessing the sins of our forefathers forgets that our true spiritual Father is God alone, in whom we are free indeed . We are freer than those deliverance sessions will ever make us. The cross of Christ crushed the curse that weighed down our neck, raising us from despair. He alone is the Christians altar which we approach confidently .
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Curses In The African Traditional Worldview
Birungi and Kawooya represent countless other Africans flooded with fears whenever life takes a dark turn. Deeply spiritual, Africans see omens in night owls and curses in cats crossing our paths. A curse, according to The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament is, a directly expressed or indicated utterance which in virtue of a supernatural nexus of operation brings harm by its very expression to the one against whom it is directed. In other words, it is a pronouncement intended to bring harm to the recipient with the help of a divinity or gods.
Appeasing the Gods
The fear of curses comes from how, traditionally, Africans have a transactional view of the gods. The gods want their backs scratchedat least thats what the witchdoctors told usbefore returning the favour by giving us a good life. If things do not go well, either the gods are angry, or someone scratched their back better. The gods are fickle. They can be bought. In The Christian Church and Witchcraft Accusations in Africa, Fabulous Moyo and Erwin van der Meer narrate how traditional healers specialised in, divining spiritual causes of bewitchment and whodid the bewitchment.
When problems mount against us, they often bring to the surface our surviving though unspoken presuppositions
Are Christians Allowed To Curse Their Enemies
Posted on Last updated: February 23, 2021
We just recently received an email from one of our readers. The question she had asked us was whether or not we as Christians could curse someone else for something wrong they were doing to us. The reason she was asking this question was due to something she heard her own pastor do in one of his services.
Long story short, they had some problems with several women in their church. These women then left the church and started to bad-mouth the pastor and his church to others on the outside.
Then at one of their Sunday services the pastor commented on what was occurring with these women, and then made the comment to let everything they were saying come back on their head 100 times and everything be returned back upon them.
Our reader was not comfortable with this kind of statement her pastor was making, and she then wrote in asking if this was a form of cursing and if so, whether or not he should be doing something like this. We wrote her back and told her we did feel this was a form of cursing and that he should not be doing something like this.
I have also heard some very well-known TV preachers over the years do something similar and again, I was never comfortable with this kind of rhetoric, as I felt they were crossing a line into actually cursing those who were trying to do them wrong.
He is not telling us to ask God to bring down any kind of death, doom, and destruction on those who are trying to hurt us.
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Curses And The Cure In The New Testament
In the New Testament, the noun curse occurs six times . The verb to curse occurs five times . These texts either prohibit Christians from cursing their enemies or declare Gods judgment against unrepentant sinners. But they do not suggest that Christians can any longer be under a curse.
Gods judgment of our sin fell on Christ so that we are now redeemed from the curse we deserved
Galatians 3:10-14 explains why believers cannot be under a curse. By his death, Christ rescued all those in him from the bondage of sin. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us . As such, the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith . As we all died in Adam, we all live in Christ. The difference between whether we are cursed or blessed depends on our location. Gods judgment of our sin fell on Christ so that we are now redeemed from the curse we deserved, but only if we are in Christ.
What Does The Bible Say About Cursing
In todays culture cussing is normal. People cuss when theyre happy and excited. People cuss when theyre mad and even when theyre sad. Even though the world throws curse words around like its nothing, Christians are to be set apart. We are not to imitate the world and the way the people of the world communicate with each other.
We must be careful not to think upon curse words towards others. Those words we call someone in our minds when they do something we dont like.
When thoughts like these pop up we are to rebuke the devil and discard them instead of dwelling on them. Cursing is a sin.
It doesnt matter if its intended for someone or not its still sinful. Think about it!
With our mouths we worship the Lord daily. How can we then use our mouth to say f-bombs and other profanity? Swearing reveals a wicked heart. A true Christian will bear fruits of repentance.
They wont continue to use their tongue for evil. Words are powerful. Scripture tells us we will be judged for every idle word. We all have fallen short in this category.
It gives us a great comfort that Jesus bore our sins on His back. Through Him we are forgiven. Repentance is a result of our faith in Jesus Christ. We must allow our speech to reflect our appreciation for the great price that was paid for us on the cross. These cursing verses include translations on KJV, ESV, NIV, NASB, and more.
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Another Guy Tried To Put A Curse On Me
Several years later, when I was living in Texas, a fellow and I were having a conversation, which turned into a heavy duty theological disagreement.
The guy started shouting, saying I was going to hell because I didnt agree with him 100% on what the Bible said.
Then he took on the air of his version of a prophet calling down thunderbolts from heaven on me.
He pronounced all kinds of curses that would come on me within the next ten days. I dont remember everything he said, but he was vehement and spoke with absolute conviction.
I didnt respond in the way he did. I stayed calm and didnt react.
I think he ended the conversation by stomping off, full of fury, self-righteousness, and condemnation of me.
It took me a few minutes to catch my breath.
I knew in theory that the curse he pronounced on me was powerless, because it had not come from God. But I prayed earnestly to feel Gods presence.
Even for the sake of argument, lets say I was wrong with my theology, I dont think God would punish me the way this man prophesied, but would bring me to see things more clearly. In 1 Timothy it says God
wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4 NLT
Why Did Jesus Curse The Fig Tree
Some Christians believe that because Jesus cursed the fig tree, they can use profane words anyhow. It is important to understand the context of the story of Jesus and the fig tree.
In Mark 11, Jesus and his disciples were coming from Bethany and going to Jerusalem. As they approached, Jesus saw a fig tree and hoped that he would find fruit on it. There was no fruit when he got to the tree because it was not the season. Then, Jesus cursed the tree.
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Whats Really Going On When Someone Curses You
Paul explains that the carnal mind is the real culprit in this situation and others like it:
the carnal mind is enmity against God Romans 8:7 NKJV
It may look like the animosity was hurled at Jesus by attempting to hurl him over the cliff.
It may look like the enmity of the carnal mind is focused on you when you take a stand for Truth and someone thinks they can curse you.
But the hatred, or enmity, hostility, of the carnal mind is actually aimed at God.
The carnal mind does not have enmity toward God. The carnal mind is the enmity itself against God.
But to no avail. Evil cannot destroy good. Darkness cannot destroy light. Satan cannot overcome God.
Should Christians Curse Their Enemies
Sometimes I have even heard people who call themselves Christians, cursing a person, organization, church, or country, they disagree with politically or theologically.
Have you ever heard anything further from what Jesus would do? And yet these so-called Christians pray for their enemies to be cursed with defeat and even death.
Did they not know Jesus taught us to do the exact opposite in the Sermon on the Mount?
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:44, 45 NKJV
So technically, to answer the question, Can someone put a curse on you? the answer is sort of a yes.
This is what I mean. They may think thats what they can do. But a so-called curse, in and of itself, is absolutely harmless unless we are afraid of it or believe it has power over us.
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