What is your attitude?

[Pastor Mark]

Romans 12:14 "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."

Why would God tell us to do this?

[Katianne]

God tells us to bless others who persecute us because this is what he would do and does do. For us to bless others is us striving to be like him, and it shows God's heart. Like when it says to "turn the other check" if someone strikes you. A great example is when Jesus is hanging on the cross, dieing and being 'persecuted' and he says forgive them father they know not... Jesus did not curse them for what they had done, on he blessed them, HE BLESSED US!

[Pastor Mark]

Good answer, why aren't we doing it?

[AlishaMay]

    We aren't doing it because it is so hard to do. It goes directly against what our flesh is telling us. It is in our sin nature to seek revenge and to get back at the other person. Satan is there whenever we are down to whisper in our ear that it's alright to curse them because it's only what they did to us. He tries to convince us that it's ok to do wrong things to other people when they do it to us and that it will make us feel better. All it does is make the situation worse by stirring up anger at both ends. God even said:

Leviticus 19:18 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
[NIV at IBS] [International Bible Society] [NIV at Zondervan] [Zondervan]

 18 " 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

    He is the only person who has say over what everyone else deserves. We are mere people, who are we to say that not only do we know what the other person deserves, but that it is our responsibility to carry out those judgments.
    It's sometimes very hard to catch this happening in us and around us because it is popularly accepted among the human race.The entire justice system is based off of the notion that people have the right to get back at those who do something wrong. It is aloso accepted that it is ok to hate those who wrong you, when in reality we should love EVERYONE. We have to pray and meditate on this in order to have a chance at getting this any where near right. Not on our own, but because the Spirit of God is in us and works through us.