A CURSE UPON OUR CHILDREN?

A CURSE UPON OUR CHILDREN

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

Hebrews [ESV] 1:7-14; 2:1-9 Of the angels he [God] says, "He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire." But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end." And to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, "What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

James 3:6-10 … the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

  Reading James I discover “curse” and “cursing” means more than words when I smash my finger. Using Strong’s I find the words have to do with “imprecation” and “execration”.  Imprecation means to invoke evil on someone. Execration is somewhat crudely akin to it.

  There are naïve cultural forms of imprecating our children far from John 14:6 truth for living; ways of instilling self-esteem egocentrically opposed to godliness; an emphasis on accomplishments as personal identity. Acted out by those claiming trust in God’s Word entails denying His truth about man (Rom.7:18; 12:1-3) and the King of kings (1Tim.6:15; Rev.17:14; 19:16)

  I often hear conversation bragging about children’s successes in sports, academics, et al, with seldom a mention of good Christian character traits. What then do children hear and believe as the way to live?

  Making grades, awards, and achievements as quantifying identity may imprecate children to walk apart from God. In this practice children are stressed as they compete to be winners by this world’s standards rather than dwelling in Christ’ peace while benefiting from competition. (Jn.16:33)

  Example: When a ball game is not seen as sport or exercise, but a striving for identity, where does it leave a child or later as adult when they lose that worldly identity?

  Let us take care that we not imprecate our beloved children with worldly standards of identity. 

EBB4.