Breaking Curses Through Radical Obedience

BREAKING CURSES THROUGH RADICAL OBEDIENCE

“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” — Isaiah 1:19

I. The Summer Everything Changed

Let me take you back to a scorching December afternoon in Akasia, 2019. The potholes on Rachel de Beer Street had swallowed two of my tyres that week, my youngest son’s school fees were three months behind, and the car—that old Corolla that had carried more prayers than passengers had just died again.

I sat on my stoep, watching the Highveld thunderheads pile up like God’s own judgment, and I prayed. Oh, how I prayed! I prayed with the desperation of a man whose back was against the wall. I quoted Psalm 35, rebuked every demon in Pretoria North, and commanded every financial curse to break by the blood of Jesus.

Nothing happened.

The next morning, my neighbour Mrs. Nkosi knocked on my gate. "Harold," she said, "the church down the street needs someone to clean the toilets. It pays five hundred rand a week."

I wanted to be offended. I am a man of God! I write! I preach! I had plans for my afternoon important plans involving a nap and perhaps some rugby on the television. But something in my spirit that still, small voice we hear only when our lungs are empty of complaint whispered: Take the shovel. Take the shovel before you take the microphone.

I went. I scrubbed toilets. I swept floors. I emptied bins that had witnessed the aftermath of a youth service pizza party.

And something broke.

Not with a bang. Not with a prophecy. Not with a dramatic deliverance session. But with a quiet click like a lock finally turning after years of jiggling the wrong key.

The next week, an email arrived from a publisher in Cape Town. The month after that, I spoke at a conference in Durban. By the end of the year, I had spoken in places I never dreamed of entering. Not because I got delivered from a curse but because I got delivered into obedience.

What I learned on that stoep, watching those thunderheads, is the thesis of everything I now understand about breaking curses:

A curse is not broken by your confession alone it is broken by your compliance.

II. Defining Our Terms: The Anatomy of a Curse

Let us define our terms clearly, for confusion here costs souls.

A curse, biblically understood, is not merely a bad feeling or a streak of misfortune. It is not the evil eye cast by a jealous aunt. It is not every flat tyre or forgotten birthday. If we blame curses for everything, we blame God for nothing and that is a dangerous theology.

The Scripture identifies curses as covenantal consequences. In Deuteronomy 28, the blessings and curses are presented as a choice set before Israel: obey and be blessed, disobey and be cursed. The curse, therefore, is not God’s arbitrary punishment but His purposeful discipline the natural and supernatural result of living outside His protective boundaries.

We can formulate this as a syllogism:

1. Major Premise: God has established moral and spiritual laws that govern human flourishing, as revealed in Scripture.

2. Minor Premise: Disobedience to these laws produces predictable consequences—spiritual, relational, and material—which Scripture terms "curses."

3. Conclusion: Therefore, the only permanent remedy for a curse is not ritual but repentance, not confession but compliance.

A common objection arises: “But Pastor, what about generational curses? What about innocent suffering? Was Job cursed because he disobeyed?”

This objection is reasonable and must be addressed. Job was not cursed for disobedience; he was tested for righteousness. And here we must distinguish between three different phenomena:

Type Source Remedy

Covenantal Curse Personal disobedience Repentance + Obedience

Generational Pattern Inherited sin habits Deliverance + Discipleship

Testing/Trials Divine permission Faithfulness + Endurance

The confusion arises when we treat every trial as a curse and every curse as a demon. But Isaiah 1 makes something abundantly clear: the people of Judah were bringing sacrifices, praying fervently, and still God would not listen. Why?

“Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good.” (Isaiah 1:15-17)

Their religion was intact. Their rituals were regular. Their confession was constant. But their obedience was optional. And God said: I have had enough.

III. The Radical Obedience Mandate: Why Partial Compliance Is Complete Rebellion

Here in South Africa, we have a word: voetstoets. It means “as is”—you buy a car, a house, a piece of land accepting whatever hidden defects it carries. Many Christians treat obedience the same way. We give God the parts of our lives we were planning to change anyway, and we keep the rest voetstoets—“as is.”

But radical obedience is not voetstoets Christianity. It is the opposite. It says: Lord, here is the deed to every room in this house, including the locked one in the basement where I keep my secret sins.

Radical obedience is the axe that severs the root of rebellion.

Consider the lepers in Luke 17. Ten men, rotting alive, cry out to Jesus for mercy. And what does He say? Does He touch them? Does He speak a word of healing? Does He cast out a demon of leprosy?

No. He says: “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

Notice the order. He did not say: “Be healed, then go.” He said: “Go.” Healing did not precede their steps healing met their steps. Their obedience was not the reward of their faith their obedience was the road their faith walked on.

The theological implication is staggering and, for many of us, uncomfortable: God often requires action before He releases breakthrough.

I see this in my own life. For years, I prayed for a platform. I prayed for influence. I prayed for open doors. But I was unwilling to walk through the door marked “humility” the door of scrubbing toilets, of driving speakers to the airport at midnight, of staying late to lock the church gates. I wanted the harvest without the hoe. I wanted the blessing without the bending.

Radical obedience dismantles what rebellion built. What disobedience constructed over decades, one act of complete surrender can break in a single day.

IV. The South African Context: Curses We Call Culture

Let me speak prophetically to my own nation, for we cannot discuss curses without confronting the altars we have built.

South Africa bleeds. Our crime statistics are a scandal—over 80 murders reported daily in recent years. Our economy staggers under loadshedding, corruption, and a cost of living that crushes the poor. Our politics are fractious, with factions forming within the ruling party and prophecies speaking of “powers that will rise against the president” . Our families are fragmented, with fatherlessness producing a generation of young men who know how to fight but not how to father.

And the church? We gather on Sundays, lift holy hands, sing worship songs that mention the blood of Jesus, and then return to the same compromises on Monday.

We call ourselves “spiritual” while cheating on our spouses.

We call ourselves “anointed” while exploiting the poor.

We call ourselves “delivered” while still enslaved to the approval of men.

The prophet Isaiah, if he were standing in Akasia today, would say what he said to Judah:

“See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers! Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts.” (Isaiah 1:21-23)

The curse over South Africa is not primarily political. It is not economic. It is not even demonic, in the sense of needing another prayer conference and another stadium deliverance session.

The curse over South Africa is covenantal. We have been unwilling and disobedient. We have exchanged justice for bribes, righteousness for rituals, and holiness for hype. And God is saying what He has always said:

“Come now, let us settle this... If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.”

But if not if we continue to resist and rebel the sword remains. Not because God is cruel, but because He is just. And a just God cannot bless injustice forever.

V. The Practical Path: Seven Steps to Radical Obedience

Let me now move from prophecy to practicality. How does radical obedience function on the ground, in the dust of daily life?

First, stop negotiating. When God speaks, our first instinct is often to argue. “But Lord, you don’t understand my situation. If I obey this, I will lose my job, my reputation, my relationship...” The patriarchs of the faith did not negotiate they navigated. Abraham left his homeland without knowing the destination. Noah built the ark without seeing the rain. Peter stepped out of the boat without understanding the physics. Obedience that requires a full briefing before takeoff is not obedience it is consultancy.

Second, start with the small things. We want to be trusted with nations but we cannot be trusted with our neighbour’s lawnmower. Jesus said: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” (Luke 16:10) Radical obedience in the small things—the tithe, the apology, the honest tax return—builds the muscle for radical obedience in the big things.

Third, obey immediately. Delayed obedience is disobedience dressed in procrastination’s clothing. When the Spirit prompts, the window of courage is small. Hesitation is the handmaiden of rebellion.

Fourth, obey completely. Jonah obeyed eventually but he obeyed only after rewriting God’s itinerary to exclude the bit about mercy for Nineveh. Partial obedience is not partial success; it is complete failure.

Fifth, obey joyfully. The Scripture says: “Serve the Lord with gladness.” (Psalm 100:2) Grudging obedience is an oxymoron. If you obey only because you fear the consequences of disobedience, you have not yet understood the Father’s heart. The deepest obedience flows not from fear but from love—not from avoiding the curse but from pursuing the Blesser.

Sixth, obey even when it makes no sense. When Jesus told Peter to cast the net on the other side after a night of catching nothing, Peter could have listed the reasons why this was foolish—water temperature, fish behaviour, the futility of repeating the same action and expecting different results. But he said: “At your word I will let down the nets.” That is radical obedience.

Seventh and this is the hardest for my fellow Africans obey even when no one is watching. In a culture where ubuntu means “I am because we are,” the temptation is to perform righteousness for the community’s applause. But radical obedience is what you do when the cameras are off, when the offering plate has passed, when the only witness is the One who sees in secret and rewards openly.

VI. The Objection Addressed: Is This Not Works-Based Salvation?

I anticipate the theological objection, for I have raised it myself:

“Harold, you are preaching works! You are saying that obedience breaks curses, but the Scripture says we are saved by grace through faith, not by works!”

This objection is correct in its concern but mistaken in its application. Let me clarify with the precision this topic demands:

Salvation from sin’s penalty is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Nothing you do can earn your justification. The thief on the cross had no opportunity for radical obedience only radical faith and yet Jesus said: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

But breaking curses the removal of covenantal consequences operates on a different plane. Consider:

· Salvation addresses your position before God (justification).

· Obedience addresses your practice before God (sanctification).

· Curses are broken when your practice aligns with your position.

James makes this distinction unmissable: “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26) He does not say works save you. He says works prove that you are saved. And in the same way, radical obedience does not earn your deliverance but deliverance rarely comes without it.

Think of the ten lepers again. Were they saved by their obedience? No. They were healed by Christ’s mercy. But their healing activated when they obeyed. Their steps were not the source of their cleansing but their cleansing was released through their steps.

The same is true for you. The curse is broken not by your compliance earning God’s favour—that is paganism but by your compliance positioning you to receive what God has already promised. Obedience is not the price of the blessing; it is the posture for receiving it.

VII. Jesus Christ: The Model and the Means

Every sermon on obedience must ultimately land at the cross, for apart from Jesus Christ, our obedience is filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). But through Jesus Christ, our obedience becomes fragrant worship.

Consider the radical obedience of Jesus:

“He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8)

Jesus did not negotiate in Gethsemane. He did not delay in the garden. He did not obey partially, grudgingly, or conveniently. He obeyed radically—to the nails, to the thorns, to the cry of abandonment.

And by that radical obedience, He broke every curse that sin had spoken over humanity. Paul declares: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” (Galatians 3:13)

This is the gospel. Jesus obeyed where we disobeyed. Jesus submitted where we rebelled. Jesus said “yes” in the garden when we have said “no” in a thousand daily decisions.

And now, because of His obedience, our obedience is no longer an attempt to earn God’s love—it is a response to God’s love already given. We do not obey to be blessed. We obey because we are blessed and we want to live like it.

VIII. A Call to Radical Action

Beloved, I have written enough words. Now it is time for your response.

The news headlines this week will remind you of the crises the shootings, the protests, the prophecies of calamity . The politicians will posture. The prophets will pronounce. But you, you must obey.

What has God told you to do that you have not yet done?

Is it to forgive someone who ripped your heart out?

Is it to tithe even though the budget says no?

Is it to apologise even though you were technically right?

Is it to step out of a relationship that is slowly poisoning your spirit?

Is it to serve in a hidden place when your ego craves a platform?

Is it to give up a comfort that has become an idol?

Here is the truth: The delay in your obedience is the duration of your curse.

Not because God is angry, but because God is good. And a good Father will not give you the next level of blessing when you are still mishandling the current level of responsibility.

So I invite you to pray this prayer with me—not as a ritual, but as a revolution in your soul:

PRAYER OF RADICAL SURRENDER

Lord Jesus, I confess that I have treated obedience as optional. I have negotiated with Your commands, delayed Your promptings, and offered You the parts of my life I was willing to change anyway.

Today, I lay down my rebellion. I take up my cross. I choose radical obedience—not to earn Your love, but to live in it.

Where You say go, I will go—immediately, completely, joyfully, even when it makes no sense, even when no one is watching.

Break every curse that disobedience has built over years. Sever every root of rebellion. Let my compliance become my deliverance.

Not my will, but Yours be done.

In the name of Jesus Christ, who obeyed to the death and who lives to empower my obedience. Amen.

CONCLUSION: The Good of the Land

The promise of Isaiah 1:19 is not complicated: “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.”

Not the good of heaven—that is guaranteed by grace.

Not the good of the future—that is secured by hope.

But the good of this land—the land of your marriage, your career, your church, your nation.

The good of this land is not distant. It is not theoretical. It is waiting for you on the other side of your obedience. The door is open. The axe is in your hand. The curse is crouching at your door—but it must flee when you walk forward in radical surrender.

From my corner of Akasia, watching the same Highveld sun that has witnessed my failures and my small victories, I declare this truth over you:

What disobedience built over decades, one act of radical surrender can dismantle in a day.

Go. Show yourself. Take the step.

And let the healing meet your feet.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.” (Isaiah 1:18-19)

Harold Mawela writes from Akasia, Pretoria, where he continues to learn that the deepest truths are often discovered in the smallest acts of obedience. Connect with him for speaking engagements or pastoral counsel.