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BY AL EARLEY

Sun Columnist

The teenagers were at youth group when one says to the other, “You are so stupid!”  The rest of the teenagers speak up for their friend with joy, “That was a sting!  Share five blessings for our friend.”

It was a youth group rule that everyone loved. If you spoke a sting or cut of any sort you had to share five blessings for the person you verbally attacked, and they had to be good blessings. No cheap blessings about shoes and socks. Why is it the case that it takes more blessings to build someone up than it takes curses to tear them down?

Last week I wrote about the power of the spoken blessing. The experience of receiving a blessing can be life transforming for you as you share the blessing and for the person receiving the blessing. Unfortunately, the same can be said for curses, and they are easier to do, often without even thinking.  The words roll off our tongue so easily, “You are ugly.  You are weak.  You will never amount to anything. Your family is evil. You are …

My most vivid memory of being 6 years old was when my first-grade teacher asked me what color something was. I didn’t know the color. It was an embarrassing moment until she said, “Oh Albert, you should know what color that is!” Now I was mortified.

I sobbed uncontrollably for eternity (at least it seemed that way). Then I made a life changing decision. I would never let myself be exposed like that in public ever again. It set off a series of chain reactions that unsettled my life for the next 50 years. Instead of trusting God to protect me I trusted myself. I learned to idolize my own wisdom which led to arrogance and false worship of myself.  The teacher’s words seem pretty tame to me today. Why were they so devastating to that little 6-year-old?

We read in Proverbs 18:21, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” There is great power in the spoken word. God spoke the world into existence.

Curses can affect people so easily in negative ways because we have deep seated wounds and bruises from our human nature as fallen beings. We hear a curse and it confirms what we already believe about ourselves, that we are a mistake, fearful of everything, or always angry. Also, curses open doors for Satan to lie to us and add to our certainty that we are some/all of those weak and evil things.

Do you have any beliefs about yourself self that are lies from Satan? Do you believe you are unlovable? God says nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39).  Have you heard Satan whisper, “You are stupid.” God has given you the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16).  You may struggle because you believe nobody likes you. God says you are special, chosen and you have received his wonderful light (I Peter 2:9). For every lie Satan whispers about who you are God’s Word has the truth that grows out of his infinite love for you, and his desire to save you for eternity and have an intimate relationship with you.

I didn’t know I had a problem with my 6-year-old self until I asked to receive some spiritual healing, like a spiritual check-up. I did a visualization of where Jesus was in that classroom and I saw a beautiful picture of Jesus holding me as I cried, stroking my hair and back. He was loving me through the experience. I asked Jesus to forgive me for turning my back on his protection for so much of my life. He did. Then I told Jesus I would always trust him to protect me. He has. Not long after that there was a person telling lies about me in public for 18 months. I trusted Jesus to protect me. He did.  It brought me great peace.

What curses, lies and attacks do you believe about yourself? Have you ever heard Satan whisper his lies to reinforce them? Would you recognize Satan’s voice when he does? Look in the Bible to find out if God’s word tells you that God believes the opposite about you. Can you believe in God’s truth and break the curses placed upon you? God does not want you to live with those lies. Find a way to be set free through spiritual healing.

To find out more about Al Earley or read previous articles, see www.lagrangepres.org.