“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:” Galatians 3:13 (KJV)
I’m sure we have all heard statements like, “That’s how that family behaves!” or “No female in that family ever gets married!” Statements like these refer to issues that we, as kingdom citizens sometimes ignore, but should be dealt with before they destroy us, and our future generations. I’m speaking on the issue of generational curses, or what I like to call, ‘repeat offenders’.
We often make the mistake of thinking that just because we’ve accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, everything not connected to His kingdom will automatically fall off. Not so beloved. Just as our physical faces do not change when we do, neither do certain aspects of our spiritual lives. It is as we yield ourselves more and more to the Holy Spirit, and His fruit becomes evident in our lives, that our faces begin to change. We seem more beautiful or handsome because of that annointed inner glow.
Conversely, generational curses are negative behaviours or features which manifest in different family members from generation to generation and can enter a family in mainly three ways. Firstly, when a family or tribe blatantly and presumptuously disobeys God, they can open the door to a generational curse. Exodus 20:5-6 (NIV) says this, “You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Secondly, a person can release a generational curse on a family or tribe because of a real or perceived wrong, as in the case of Joshua, after he broke down the walls of Jericho, and destroyed the city, said, in Joshua 6:26 (NKJV), …“Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city Jericho, he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest, he shall set up its gates.”
Thirdly, a person’s misdeeds can also cause a generational curse to fall on his or her family. As in the case of Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. Because of his foolish greed, the prophet Elisha said to him in 2 Kings 5:27(KJV), “The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever.” The verse concludes that he went out from Elisha’s presence a leper, as white as snow.
Beloved, even if your family or mine have been placed under a generational curse, there is hope in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares confidently, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love and mercy in sending Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die in my place and becoming a curse for me and my family. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that because of Your obedience and ultimate sacrifice, every written and spoken curse is broken. Thank You Holy Spirit for Your grace and power that cleanses us from every sin and evil habit which caused the curses to fall.
I stand in the gap and repent on behalf of my ancestors who did wrong. Today, I decree and declare that all of our generations to come are free from curses in Jesus’s name. Amen.
Read: Leviticus 26:39-42; 2 Kings 5:20-27; 2 Chronicles 34:24-28
Bible Reading Guide: Proverbs 18:7-16; Romans 10:5-21; Romans 11:1-10; I Chronicles 2:18-55; I Chronicles 3; I Chronicles 4:1-8
