The Gospel at the Counter: Blessing Those Who Curse Your Business

by Dave Miler

Jesus commands His followers to bless those who curse them. He makes this explicit in Luke 6:27 to 28.

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”

At first glance this feels impossible because blessing and cursing operate from the deepest places of our will. To bless means to will the good for someone else. To curse means to will the bad for someone else. James says in James 3:9 to 10:

“Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right.”

When someone curses us they express with their words or actions a desire for us to lose so they can gain. They want control, advantage, or superiority. They want us to experience something that benefits them at our expense. Curses rarely come as dramatic statements. They come as tones, demands, dismissive comments, manipulative expectations, or any moment where someone shows that they prefer harm for us so they can secure good for themselves.

If we try to bless people using our own resources we place ourselves above them. We act like we possess a kind of good that originates inside us and flows out because we stand superior. That is not Christian blessing. Scripture reminds us in John 15:5:

“Yes, I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

We do not possess any inherent blessing to give. But when we understand our role as ambassadors of Jesus we see that the authority to bless does not come from us. It comes from heaven. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:20:

“So we are Christ’s ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, come back to God.”

God desires good for our lives and for their lives. God loves us and God loves them. So when we bless someone who wills harm against us we do not draw from our own goodness. We call upon God to work His good in their life. We invoke His grace the way Jesus prayed for His executioners in Luke 23:34:

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

We become a conduit for the will of God to reach a person who shows no desire for our good.

This is where abundance enters the story. The world believes we live in a zero sum reality. For me to gain you must lose. For you to be lifted up I must be pushed down. That mindset fuels curses. It creates a culture of scarcity where every interaction becomes a competition for power, resources, and emotional leverage. But the Kingdom does not operate in scarcity. The Kingdom operates in the abundance of God. Jesus says in John 10:10:

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Paul adds in Ephesians 1:3:

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”

God works unlimited good through His grace. Grace means God works the good in our lives that we cannot produce on our own. Grace gives without loss. Grace heals without draining. Grace multiplies without dividing. When we live inside the abundance of God we stop scrambling for position. We stop fighting for advantage. We stop believing that someone else’s gain threatens ours. And because we trust the abundance of God we can give away blessing without fear.

This transforms how we respond when someone curses us. Jesus says in Matthew 5:44:

“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”

Paul echoes this in Romans 12:14:

“Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them. Pray that God will bless them.”

When they will harm we will good. When they desire loss for us we desire gain for them. When they pull from scarcity we pour out from abundance. Their curse reveals their poverty. Our blessing reveals God’s provision. And in that moment the Kingdom breaks into the world through our posture.

This becomes essential when we think about Customer Service and especially kingdom Customer Service. Every business encounters people who desire to harm, sabotage, undermine, or extract. Some customers carry a quiet simmering frustration. Some carry a personal offense they refuse to release. Some want the business to suffer so they can feel justified or in control. These moments reveal the heart of a leader and the values of a business. If the business responds from scarcity, fear, or pride, it will curse right back. It will protect itself and treat the customer as an enemy whose loss produces its gain.

But kingdom Customer Service grounds itself in blessing. Paul says in Romans 12:21:

“Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”

A kingdom business stands inside the abundance of God and responds from the grace He continually supplies. When a customer wills harm we respond by willing good. When a customer tears down we respond by building up. When a customer curses the business we call on God to bring blessing into their life. This is not passivity. It is strength. It is stewardship. It is living as ambassadors of the King in the space of the marketplace.

Blessing those who curse us is not emotional weakness or moral posturing. It is obedience. It is alignment with the heart of God. It is participation in the abundance of His grace. And when we practice this in the real world, especially in the daily pressure of business and customer interactions, we reveal the Kingdom in the place where people least expect it yet most need it.