Genesis 26
Isaac lies about Rebecca being his sister.
I wonder if Abraham told his son about his own experience? Or did he just get the idea on his own? I'm pretty sure what didn't happen was Abraham confessing to his son and saying, “I was wrong, and I shouldn't have done it, and here is why."
It's so hard for us as parents to confess our mistakes to our children, but when we fail to own up to our errors and share what we learned from them, we often watch our kids make the same mistake. There is nothing worse than seeing your child reliving your worst moments. No amount of pride is worth that.
Generational sin is not some hocus-pocus curse, it is the patterns of sinful behavior that we hand down to our children, and their children.
In Abraham’s case, it was a pattern of deceit. Abraham, despite being commended for his faith, didn’t place enough trust in God in the midst of his circumstances to tell the whole truth. That willingness to compromise integrity for the sake of safety or financial gain was passed down to his son, Isaac, and then to Jacob.
But before we judge Abraham too harshly, we need to evaluate our own behavior patterns. What sins do we keep as pets, thinking if we just keep it under control, that will be good enough? Abraham wasn’t telling huge whoppers of lies, in fact, he justified his deceit with the fact that Sarah was his half-sister…so the lie was half true.
Romans 6:12 advises us, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.” When we guard sin in our life, failing to confess it for what it is, hiding it from others, and neglecting to warn those we love of its consequences, we eventually find it growing more powerful and demanding more compromise. Like a vicious beast that started as a tiny pet, it grows into something we can no longer control and which will eventually destroy us and those we love. God’s best for us requires that we “by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body.” (Romans 8:13b)
Isaac lies about Rebecca being his sister.
I wonder if Abraham told his son about his own experience? Or did he just get the idea on his own? I'm pretty sure what didn't happen was Abraham confessing to his son and saying, “I was wrong, and I shouldn't have done it, and here is why."
It's so hard for us as parents to confess our mistakes to our children, but when we fail to own up to our errors and share what we learned from them, we often watch our kids make the same mistake. There is nothing worse than seeing your child reliving your worst moments. No amount of pride is worth that.
Generational sin is not some hocus-pocus curse, it is the patterns of sinful behavior that we hand down to our children, and their children.
In Abraham’s case, it was a pattern of deceit. Abraham, despite being commended for his faith, didn’t place enough trust in God in the midst of his circumstances to tell the whole truth. That willingness to compromise integrity for the sake of safety or financial gain was passed down to his son, Isaac, and then to Jacob.
But before we judge Abraham too harshly, we need to evaluate our own behavior patterns. What sins do we keep as pets, thinking if we just keep it under control, that will be good enough? Abraham wasn’t telling huge whoppers of lies, in fact, he justified his deceit with the fact that Sarah was his half-sister…so the lie was half true.
Romans 6:12 advises us, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.” When we guard sin in our life, failing to confess it for what it is, hiding it from others, and neglecting to warn those we love of its consequences, we eventually find it growing more powerful and demanding more compromise. Like a vicious beast that started as a tiny pet, it grows into something we can no longer control and which will eventually destroy us and those we love. God’s best for us requires that we “by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body.” (Romans 8:13b)
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