Destiny Unfolding

Any doctor will tell you that it is important to be aware of the diseases and cancers that run in your family bloodline. Just as you desire to know your family medical history, have you noticed any dysfunctional cycles that have gone on in your family from generation to generation?

Within the context of the church we refer to these cycles as generational curses. I would define a generational curse as a destructive and/or dysfunctional pattern of behaviors whose oppressive practices are passed down from one generation to the next. Weather conscious our subconscious, generational curses are learned behaviors.

What is important is that you take the time to identify those destructive behaviors that have plagued your family line. Traditionally, generational curses can come in the form of abuse: physical, sexual or substance. However, once we have considered these traditional avenues, we must go a step further. What about mismanagement finances? Broken marriages? Absent fathers?

Exploring generational curses often require us to face our past. This is why most people do not want to acknowledge the repeated behaviors that have prevented their family from prospering. Yet, naming the generational curse and facing it helps us to access divine deliverance.

When we begin to acknowledge our generational curses we have the opportunity to move from the path of victim to the road of victor. God desires for us to stop the cycle of destructive behavior. Yet, we must choose to overcome. Generational curses may derive from our family lineage but deliverance and healing come straight from the Lord.

When we chose to take back our life by ceasing these cycles of destructive behavior there are three steps we should take to begin the process of divine deliverance:

Talk with a counselor: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). When we chose to acknowledge these dysfunctional patters we stand ready to be sharpened. Getting help from a trained professional will help you to address the generational curse in your past, explore how it is effecting your present, and help you to stop its power in the future.

Renew your mind: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). One of the best ways to renew your mind is by focusing on your prayer life. Prayer is our time to lay out our concerns before God and listen to God’s response. When we spend time with the Lord we learn that God does not desire to harm us but rather to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). When we begin to understand that God wants the very best for us, we stand ready to receive divine deliverance.

Prepare your mind for action: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance (1 Peter 1:13-14). Now that you are aware of your generational curses, and your mind stands renewed, you are ready to practice self control and make the right choices that lead you toward God’s purpose and plan for your life. Deliverance comes when we consciously make choices that break the cycle and teach our children a new way of living.




(To be published in the November 2007 issue of Black Health Magazine)