Generational Curses: What They Really Are and How to Break Them Forever
Spiritual Warfare Made Simple, Chapter 10, Part 4
[Note: The next few blog posts will each contain part of Chapter 10 in Spiritual Warfare Made Simple. This is a big chapter, dealing with many misconceptions in spiritual warfare. It’ll be a lot easier to digest as a blog post in smaller bits.]
Misconception 5: Generational Curses
In spiritual warfare terminology, a generational curse is a curse that affects generations of the same family. Common examples are alcoholism, sexual sin, or racism.
But there is no such thing as a generational curse after Jesus’ Resurrection.
Why?
Dominion.
You can always choose not to sin. You are not bound by your ancestor’s sins. At any point, you can say “No, I won’t do that.” And it’s done.
Christians cannot suffer from generational curses. The reason is simple: Jesus died on the Cross to destroy them all. Paul ensured we wouldn’t miss this:
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13 ESV).
If there was a curse on you, it died the moment you became a Christian. Jesus became that curse for you to redeem you from it. This includes the curse of the law, as well as any other kind. Jesus became them, and Jesus destroyed them by dying for them.
But the devil lies.
The devil will lie about generational curses to weaken your dominion. If the devil can convince you that the generational curse is real and powerful, you’ll act like it’s real and powerful, even when it isn’t. It’s a lie that tricks you into using your dominion to live under the effects of a curse, even when the curse itself is broken.
If you think you are cursed, you’ll live as though you are.
If you think the generational sin is strong and resilient, you may not believe you can stop sinning on your own. You may tolerate sin that you would otherwise stop, simply because you believe it’s part of a generational curse.
The lie is strengthened by Christians who experience positive effects by trying to break a generational curse. These experiences are true — they genuinely do experience the sin dying.
But the experience comes because they used their dominion to stop sinning as their ancestors have. They made a choice — it ends now. That choice stopped the sin with their God-given dominion.
God is sovereign. Jesus destroyed your curse on the Cross.
You have dominion. You can always choose not to sin.
The devil lies, trying to convince you that a curse is stronger than God, and stronger than your dominion. If you believe his lie, you’ll act as though the curse is real.
But if you know the truth, the devil can’t touch you.
This post comprises the fourth part of Chapter 10 of my book Spiritual Warfare Made Simple. We’ll cover the entire book in this series of blog posts, along with additional content and Q&A. If you’d like a permanent copy for yourself or a friend, you can grab the ebook or paperback here!
I’m glad you wrote against this concept of generational curse. It is a particularly pernicious concept among believers.