I am to lazy to look up how to spell it correctly and I am paranoid about misspelling something. I know this comment will come back to haunt me someday.
So generational sins, ever thought about them? Is it true? Do the sins of the father really pass down to the third and fourth generations?
Tonight we were pondering passages from Ezekiel 18:1-4 and Exodus 34
My stance is that everyone is responsible for their own sins. That does not mean that you won't reap what you sow and it might be that the way you nurture and raise your kids the ramifications of your sins might continue in their lives as well, but our parents did not have to teach us how to sin, we do a great job of that on our own.
There does how ever seem to be a trend. Things run in the family. What you see your father or mother involved in alot of times you find the kids invovled in as well, sometimes even several generations.
The responsibility always falls on each individual, are they going to stop the sin patern. Are they going to be a curve in the generational patterns?
We then looked at Daniel 9: 3-5
Own the sin Dan 9:5
Confess the sin I John 1:9
Repent the sin Rev 2:5
Renew your mind Rom 12:2
That last step is critical and I think that is where I fall short. For if I do not replace what is in mind, if I do not change my thinking paterns, my worldview, then I will return to my old ways for I have nothing to keep me from going back. Just like the demons which are driven out and nothing is put in its place they come right back. So it is if we neglect to renew our minds. This can be a very difficult cocoon time which we must face. The amazing thing is that this is what Christ does in our lives. The testimony of a changed life by the power of Christ changing us from the inside out.
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2 comments:
I've heard those passages preached before as the 'vicious cycle', but I don't see it. The response to an inherited sin pattern is dead on, but why not just talk about a Christian response to inherited habits?
The two passages are confusing to me. In Exodus, God is saying he's loving and merciful, but also just, bringing the punishment on a whole family - even to the third and fourth generation. In the Ezekiel passage, God says to stop saying the children are being punished for their father's sins, God judges each person on their own merit.
Maybe it's the context. Perhaps in Exodus God says his punishments, in general, will affect more than the sinner, and in Ezekiel he's saying to stop blaming others for the current punishment.
Musings would be the word you are looking for, brother. :)
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