Question:
Is there really a generational curse in families due to sin?
Answer:
Numbers 14:18 ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’ (NKJV)
Without getting into all sorts of theological premises and implications, let’s just take a look at a practical aspect.
Is there a “generational curse”? In other words, does the sin of parents automatically get forced or visited upon the children and grandchildren as a unavoidable punishment/consequence?
Forced, no. Predisposed, yes. Inevitable, no. Probable, yes.
FACT: No Christian is in bondage to, or helpless in the face of the sinful environment created by the generations before them.
John 8:36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (NKJV)
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (NKJV)
No person who is truly saved is enslaved by any sin they don’t CHOOSE to be enslaved by. Every Christian has available to them the power of the Holy Spirit and the righteousness of Christ that will break the power of any sinful tendency passed on by the parents.
So the “generational curse” CAN be broken EVERY time in the life of a Christian.
Is the “generational curse” real? Sure it is. Human experience proves this beyond a doubt. We reap what we sow, and pass it to our children as a matter of practical example.
Divorce, drug addiction, adultery, abuse, dishonesty… how often a pattern of sinfulness is repeated from parents to children, many times for several generations in a row. Children learn what they see. And even when parents try hard to scam the kids and hide their sin, the children aren’t fooled at all. They know; they feel, they perceive. And the sin is passed on.
The generational curse is practically inevitable without Christ; but stands no chance of survival in His presence.