From Generation to Generation

Remember when God told Sarah she was going to bear a child in her old age then she laughed and tried to tell God she actually didn’t? Or when Abraham was out in the Negev region and was telling people Sarah was his sister and not his wife?  Something makes me think that these stories were told to Isaac, but ended with something along the lines of “and yet God still showed us favour” so the issue was minimized. Later, Isaac repeated the exact same thing his father did, in the same region, with the same king. WILD. *sings* Do you see what I see?

Right before my spring break, I had to turn in a genogram project of my family. Some therapists create a genogram of their patients’ family, kind of like a family tree, to analyze their history and see if there are any influencing factors that run throughout their family that may shed light on the presenting problem. A genogram is a lot more detailed and focuses on relationships and behaviors, not just who is related to who.

It’s different when you visually see what has been passed down from generation to generation. It could be anything from divorce to smoking to family cutoffs, and the list goes on. It makes you wonder, what is being passed down to me? And if you’re like me and read into things: What am I going to do with it? The way I see it, you can do two things: continue the trend or be the one to change it.

Generational curses are very real and they can come from our choices. We don’t always think about it, but the choices we make today can and will affect the generations after us. That’s why we see certain things running through families such as substance abuse, relationship issues, and more. We see it with the Israelites. Because the earlier generation of Israelites did not obey God, they (except Caleb & Joshua) did not enter the Promised Land (See Deuteronomy 1:32-40).  We see it with Adam. Because of one man’s sin, sin came to the world (Romans 5:12). But a few verses down it says, “Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many became righteous” (v.19). Your choice to be obedient can bring about change for generations to come!

I encourage you to take time and learn. Learn about your family’s history in a very candid way, if you have someone who can share it with you. It may be hard, but the difference it can make is one of great importance. With lots of prayer, accountability, and conscious decision making, change can come! Who knows, maybe you could be the one to change what it means to be part of your family.

Much love always,

Kumam 💛