In these words spoken through the prophet Malachi, God is chastising leaders who lead people astray by their own bad example.  The gospels develop the same theme:  our actions reveal our hearts better than words do.

But words have power to change our hearts (and thus our future actions), when they are chosen with awareness and intentionality.

For this week, practice a little exercise that reverses what God did with the (insincere) blessings of the bad leaders.

Practice turning curses into blessings.

Every time you find yourself “cursing” some thing or some one (“dang computer!”  “I hate it when people do that!’), turn the curse into a blessing.

When someone cuts you off on the highway, pray that they will reach their destination safely and without injuring anyone else.  When your computer hangs up or eats your document, pray for all programmers everywhere, that they might know God as the source of their gifts and do good and careful work in the joy of that knowledge.

You get the idea—turn every “curse,” every expression of annoyance or irritation or condemnation, into a blessing instead.  Notice what happens to your own mood, your relationships with others,  your ability to get your work done, as you move through the week in this “blessing way.”