We recently had a death of a close family friend—the woman who basically raised my mother-in-law. My father-in-law was a close family friend of hers as well, so feelings were raw and tensions were high. I live in Georgia. Georgia is an area of the United States that is smack-dab in the heart of what many call “The Bible Belt” of the United States. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines the Bible Belt as: “an area chiefly in the southern U.S. whose inhabitants are believed to hold uncritical allegiance to the literal accuracy of the Bible.”* To be honest, Georgia is more like the actual belt buckle.
I quickly learned that my father-in-law wasn’t kidding—far from it! He was deadly serious. He soberly shared a vivid childhood memory of an unforgettable, harrowing, and terrifying experience related to an interaction with what he called “a booger,” and he was absolutely convinced that this experience was a direct result of a curse or hex that he received by making someone angry.
In the Bible curses and spells are forbidden practices:
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12, NIV).
To curse is to wish that bad things happen to someone or to something. I am Puerto Rican, and when I think of a curse or a spell, I immediately think of Santeria—a religion practiced in Puerto Rico that is a mixture of Catholicism and the practices derived from the Yoruba people in West Africa—today known as Nigeria. I picture someone pushing something sharp into little dolls which represent someone despised so badly that they want to push pins into—well, you get the picture. Then, combined with that action, the person typically utters a specific series of words, phrases, or songs that are supposed to bring bad things upon the unfortunate person.
Many people perceive Santeria and the engaging in other religious practices as just that: religious practices, and that’s where they stop. However, it’s much more than that.
The bottom line is that in our culture, we have largely become desensitized to witchcraft, curses, and spells. However, this is something that is very serious and very real, but do they hold any real power?
The Bible begins with God Almighty doing a lot of cursing. God cursed Satan for tempting Adam and Eve into sin (Genesis 3:17). He indirectly cursed all mankind when He cursed the ground so that weeds would sprout and man would work hard and sweat profusely in order to make a living from the cursed earth (Genesis 3:17-19). In Genesis 4:10-12, God placed a curse upon Cain for killing his brother. Of course all of these curses were God-given and well-deserved.
As we read through the Bible, we quickly discover that God provided blessings to those who obeyed Him and, conversely, cursed those who disobeyed Him. To curse is to wish that bad things happen to someone or something. God cursed only as a punishment—a natural and logical consequence for not obeying Him. Deuteronomy chapters 27-30 is a clear example of how God both blesses and curses:
“However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you” (Deuteronomy 28:15, NIV).
Next, I try to keep my life righteous and holy so that I open no door and give no opportunity for any curse to hurt me in any way. I pray Proverb 26:2: “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest” (NIV).
Then, I try never to leave the house spiritually naked. I want to be clothed in the armor of God against any spiritual attack. I pray Ephesians 6:10-17:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that … when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions (NIV).
Admittedly, this last idea is a difficult one for me to do—because it goes against everything I naturally do. I think of people who have intentionally hurt me. Instead of wishing them evil and harm—literally cursing them—I try to pray for their blessing and prosperity. After all, Jesus instructed us in Luke 6:28 to: “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (NIV).
Finally, with gratitude, I remember that sin has placed the entire world under a curse. All of us have “sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23). We know that payment for our sin is death (Romans 6:23; Deuteronomy 21:23). Thankfully, when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, we accept that Jesus died in our place on the cross. He takes the curse of death for us and the curse against us is now powerless. Death no longer rests upon us (Galatians 3:13).
So, no matter what others believe or say about boogers, spells, curses, or hexes, in and through Jesus’ power, they have all lost their power!
