You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.     Exodus 20:5 NKJV

I remember reading this verse and thinking how harsh this was to punish third and fourth generations for the sins of the father. When we studied Answers in Genesis, however, it was explained in a way that made sense to me. You see as we grow up, we develop habits. This means that a lot of what we do as adults is shaped by what our parents modeled for us. A child who grows up in church and loving and serving the Lord will likely do the same as an adult. A child who never went to church is more likely to not see a need in it.

Proverbs 22:6 says to train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

We all have old habits in our lives from the way we were raised, some good, some not so good. As adults, we can choose to keep the good and do away with the bad. Or, we can choose to keep the bad and disregard the good.

The Lord is describing to the Israelites what is called generational curses. Domestic abuse, alcoholism, drug use these are some things that parents often pass down to their children. A child raised in a chaotic home will grow to feel comfortable in chaos. Whereas a child raised in a peaceful home will want to avoid drama.

We need to take a good look at ourselves and the way we were raised. Did you pick up some bad habits from your childhood that you have not broken? Were there good habits that you have not taken up?

Many of us like to believe we were raised in an ideal home, and we shy away from finding fault in anything our parents did. Others readily see the fault and vow not to make the same mistakes.

Whether you love your parents or have a not-so-great relationship with them, know this. Good or bad they raised you with habits. You have a choice to make. Any bad habits can stop with you. Good habits can be continued.

Whatever you do, you should be obedient to the Lord. You should obey not only the 10 commandments in Exodus 20, but all of God’s commands. He stressed that the most important command is to love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength. The second one being love your neighbor as you love yourself. Are you being obedient to Him?

Our Scripture passage isn’t saying just because your parents sinned, you will pay the price. It’s saying that you can choose to make the same mistakes, or you can choose to do better. You can choose to serve God or keep any old bad habits you may have picked up.

You must choose. It’s up to you. We all know old habits are hard to break. I read somewhere that it can take 30-90 days to form a habit. So, if you are doing good, don’t stop. Don’t give up. We are told in Galatians 6:9 not to grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we don’t lose heart.

No matter what you have been through, you can become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Just trust in Him and remember Jesus to set a good example. Above all imitate Christ (Ephesians 5:1) and you can’t go wrong.

Have a great day!