I hope it’s OK to make up terms, church family. I’m no one special to do so, but I couldn’t find one to describe what Jesus calls all those who follow Him to do. His instructions are clear in Luke 6:28:

Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you.

That’s why I made up the term for us–to help us get our minds around what He has called us to do when we are mistreated and how to respond when people speak poorly of us. (It’s inevitable, by the way!) A curser-blesser is someone who blesses those who have cursed them. It’s someone who seeks to obey Jesus’ command for us to not respond in kind to those who have mistreated us, but instead to treat them in the opposite way–a way of blessing and honor.

After that sermon a few weeks ago where we talked about being a curser-blesser, I’ve talked with a few of you specifically about how you’ve been struggling to apply this in real-life situations. Interestingly, all of those I’ve talked to (and it is multiple people) are having trouble blessing and honoring a parent who has mistreated them in some kind of way.

Parents have a powerful impact on their kids. And when parents mistreat their children, it can cause very deep wounds. The closer a relationship is, the deeper the wounds go.

With that said, there are only two steps in being able to bless those who have cursed us:

1. Realize that on the cross, our sin cursed Jesus. We are responsible for the cursing of God on the cross. Let that sink in. Our sin is not a light thing. It is eternally damnable. It is beyond hurtful to God. It killed His only Son. I killed Jesus, and so did you. Imagine the pain and hurt the Father felt because of our sin. The wrong done to me is like a drop of water in the Atlantic Ocean compared to the wrong I’ve done to Jesus. While this does not excuse the wrong done to us (God is the judge of all), truly grasping this in our minds and hearts will humble us to the point of realizing we have no right to stand in condemnation over those who have wronged us. We deserve much worse from God! Who are we to condemn someone for wronging us when we killed Jesus?
2. Realize that because of the cross, instead of cursing us, God blessed us. We’re the ones who have been blessed when we cursed God! God is the ultimate curser-blesser, the true curser-blesser. Because of the cross, God the Father looks at us and gives us the same proclamation He gave Jesus as His baptism–“You are my beloved child, and I’m well-pleased with you.” That’s what God says of us because of Christ and in response to our killing of His Son! How amazing! When we grasp this, it fills us with the power to do to others what has been done to us–to bless them even when they curse us.

So then, church family, the ability to become a curser-blesser only happens through the gospel–by knowing the true curser-blesser–God Himself. He is the one who will help us do what He calls us to do.