This idea of ‘unfortunate things’ being passed down through family lines is nothing new to us. Have you not read or heard where there are increasing numbers of young women who are undergoing double mastectomies because they have learned that breast cancer runs in their families, and they are ‘predisposed’ to developing it as well, having certain genetic factors in place? Were you aware that many victims of sexual abuse at the hands of a parent ... later find out their abuser was a victim themselves? Surely you've heard how alcoholism or drug addiction runs through family lines? And why do adoptive children go to great efforts at times to trace down their biological parents? Usually it has to do with wanting to know the medical history of their blood family, if for no other reasons.

Do you suffer from depression or anxiety attacks...with painful memories as you watched a parent go through something similar? Maybe your ‘anger issues’ were always ‘jokingly attributed’ to a parent or grandparent. I’ve heard the expression used countless times how certain families could not be trusted due to them being ‘serial liars or crooks’ or ‘serial adulterers’. So is it possible that there are more than just hair color and eye traits that can be ‘handed down’ through blood lines? And if so, then why not give some prayerful consideration as to what God might have been referring to in His 10 Commandments that speaks to how He is a ’jealous God’ and is known to ‘visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations to those who hate Him...” (Deut. 5:9).

I know this is a very delicate topic to explore and discuss, but I do want to share up front here that I’m rather confident when I say this: God does not sit high upon some heavenly perch and randomly selects people to inflict pain and suffering upon their current lives today... simply because He’s stewing over what a parent or grandparent did 50-100 years ago.

But let’s be honest here: How many of you know someone, even yourself perhaps, who have children today who are not in the ‘best of places’...because of some bad choice you the parent... made years ago?

I need to remind us all once again, as I made known yesterday: It has always been the heart of God to pour out His blessings of goodness, provision, and protection for His people...AND...their children and grandchildren. (Deut. 4:40, 5:29; 12:25,28; 28:1-14). And as that commandment specifies- 'to those who love God and keep His commandments'.

This term... ‘generational curse’... has its roots in theology, but is a concept widely used today to describe learned habits and such. Many attribute it to be a repeating cycle of ‘negative behavioral patterns’; and whether you want to attribute these ‘cycles’ to be spiritual curses, or spiritual in nature, it is believed by many that these ‘patterns usually end when individuals consciously choose to change their behavior’. The Bible refers to this as ‘repentance’.

Take a look at an insightful and impromptu lesson Jesus shares in regards to a conversation some curious folks had with Him in Luke 13:1-2. It had to do with wanting to know why some people suffered in the manner they did. He asked them: “Do you think this happened because they were ‘worse sinners’ than anyone else in that area where the suffering took place? He then answers His own question by saying “No, but unless you repent, you too will all likewise perish.” Jesus then cites another tragedy that befell some people who died when a tower collapsed, asking the exact same question again, with the same answer. His message was clear...”unless you repent, you will all...likewise perish” (3-5).

Now go read and underline (if you haven’t already) 2 Pet. 3:9. Again, this reveals the heart and nature of a God who loves us and wants nothing but the best for us.

So just how do sins get ‘visited’ upon the next generation, as that statement in the second commandment seems to suggest? I would submit to you that it begins with a ‘seed’. And in the same way a freshly plowed and planted garden can be overrun by weeds, so can our lives become corrupt and overrun when 'bad seed' finds its way into our hearts/lives. We all know that humanity inherited some ‘bad seed’ which was passed down from Adam (Romans 5:12). We all inherited a ‘sin nature’ due to the separation from God that sin brought early on. And everyone who has lived (or continues to live) apart from Jesus... are under a ‘curse of wrath’ (John 3:36).  (I hope you are taking your time with this today)

But the good news is that after Jesus came and died for all the sins of mankind, we can and must be... ‘born again...of incorruptible seed’ (John 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:23). If you are not, guess what happens? That ‘bad seed’ continues to be passed down through sin. You only need to go back to the opening verses in Genesis 1 where we learn that when God created the earth, He made grass and trees and plants to ‘yield fruit according to its own kind’ (Gen. 1:11). Hence, the old saying about an apple not falling far from the apple tree would suggest that an apple tree will produce apples, and those apples will fall from the tree and go to seed, and then in turn produce more apple trees.

Jesus would later arrive on the scene and teach much about seed being sown and how it’s important that we see ‘good fruit’ produced in our lives, which cannot happen unless we are abiding in Him (John 15:1-8). He was fully aware of our condition and wanted to be the catalyst of change in our hearts and in our lives. Read what He said in Matt. 12:33: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.”  And where did He teach this 'fruit' evolves from, according to Luke 6:43-45?  You might also jot down Jeremiah 17:9 and Mark 7:21-23 as a reminder to what the conditions of our hearts are before coming to Jesus for a ' heart transplant'. (Ezek. 36:26)

He also made it known that ‘every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit; nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Matt. 7:17-18). What makes this so serious for all of us...is His follow up warning: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (19).

So you might be asking about now- ‘how does all this talk about seed and fruit and such have anything to do with the sins of our forefathers being passed down to future generations?’...and that’s a great question. Let’s dive in even deeper tomorrow and look at this in practical applications, with the hopeful understanding that there actually is a ‘cure’ or remedy for what we might even call ‘corruptible spiritual DNA’. I have actually been ‘cured’ of some of this myself and an happy to share with anyone who is curious and open as to how you too can ‘break the cycle’ and be made whole. Meet me back here tomorrow?