CHAPTER 1 | THE FOUNDATIONS
"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
Psalms 11:3
As with any journey, there is a beginning, a start, or a genesis. For both Christians and non-Christians, the beginning of their journey is initiated long before they are born or had any idea of their existence. This beginning we are speaking of is known as the foundation. The foundation is the spiritual cornerstone to every human's life.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, one of the definitions of the word foundation is: "a basis (such as a tenet, principle, or axiom) upon which something stands or is supported." In construction, the foundation of our houses supports the building's entire structure. If the foundation is faulty, the house and everything in it could sink or collapse. Faulty foundations have led to catastrophic residential tragedies such as the 2016 Nanakaramguda collapse in Hyderabad, India, leaving 11 dead. However, many never consider that if the faulty foundations of physical buildings can cause so much turmoil, what about the faulty spiritual foundations of people?
A person's (spiritual) foundation is comprised of two main parts:
- Their ancestral lineage or bloodline.
- Their childhood and upbringing.
ANCESTRAL LINEAGE
Our forefathers always leave us a spiritual inheritance that is far more valuable than money, property, and insurance payouts. They set the tone for the quality of our lives. Often people say they love and would do anything for their children, grandchildren, and family members. Yet, they will not live righteous, holy, and set apart lives unto the Lord. They don't know that their loved ones can live pitiful, chaotic, and broken lives filled with suffering, resulting from sinful and wicked lifestyles.
"Our ancestors sinned, but they have died- and we are suffering the punishment they deserved!" - Lamentations 5:7 (NLT)
"You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected-even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me." - Exodus 20:5 (NLT)
Some members of the Church have sought to deny the existence of generational curses. They claim the only curse appointed unto men is the curse of sin that was brought through Adam & Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden. However, I have studied and found scripture after scripture that proves otherwise. God is an unchanging God, and his Word does not lie. Generational curses are a real and biblical thing! God has explicitly shown through his Word that if a person sins (intentionally, repeatedly, and unrepentantly), then he will curse that person and the coming generations of that individual's lineage.
"The curse of the Lord is in the house [household, family, descendants] of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just." - Proverbs 3:33 [insert emphasis mine]
"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." - Deuteronomy 30:19-20
A curse is the sanction of affliction, sickness, pain, suffering, tragedy, and/or disaster, due to breaking God's spiritual laws. Therefore, a curse needs a reason to exist. The reason for generational curses will always be the violation of God's statutes and commandments (found in the Bible), which are then perpetuated by each new generation. Think of generational curses as the negative cycles observed within a family generation after generation.
"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known." - Deuteronomy 11:26-28
"If you don't listen, and if you don't take it to heart to honor My name," says Yahweh of Hosts, "I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart. Look, I am going to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread animal waste over your faces, the waste from your festival sacrifices, and you will be taken away with it." - Malachi 2:2-3 (HCSB)
"Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim." - Proverbs 26:2 (NLT)
Just as God can curse those who descend from wicked forefathers, he can also bless the descendants of the righteous. It's important, especially if you have children or plan on having them, to live a righteous and holy life. If you don't, your sins can and will manifest as curses on your offspring. The curses and blessings God releases to people due to disobedience or obedience can be found in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 (and other parts of the scriptures).
"And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation." - Luke 1:50
"But showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands." - Exodus 20:6 (HCSB)
"And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." - Genesis 17:7
CHILDHOOD
Additionally, how a person is raised and the events of their childhood, have a profound effect on their life. This is why the Bible gives these instructions to parents:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." - Ephesians 6:4
Children, when they are born, are innocent and new to the world. They have a purity that no adult can ever achieve because of this. But, as a child grows and is exposed to different things in life, their innocence dissolves.
Kids who are molested, abused, neglected, rejected, and mistreated by the adults in charge of them and their peers, often grow to be hardened men and women that display negative and life-altering behaviours. However, if a child is surrounded by love, care, attention, and kindness, that child often thrives and obtains different measures of success.
Childhood trauma can ruin our spiritual foundations, and this reality is becoming more evident in the observations of societal life. In fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, it is noted that, "More than two thirds of children reported at least 1 traumatic event by age 16." These traumatized children grow into the emotionally, mentally, and spiritually unstable adults we see today. For many, the words of Stewart Stafford couldn't be truer when he said, "Adulthood is an attempt to become the antithesis of the wounded child within us."
Unresolved childhood trauma and pain can lead to a life of tragedy. Many demons (familiar spirits) seek entrance into an individual's life in their younger years to engineer the destruction of their soul. Therefore, the childhood part of our foundation should and must be dealt with.
From a young age, a child's destiny can be determined by that child's behaviours, speech, interests, and mannerisms. The Bible reveals this fact in the Book of Proverbs:
"Even children are known by the way they act, whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right." - Proverbs 20:11 (NLT)
A young child should be exposed to the Word of God early at all costs. So many children have not had the experience of going to church or engaging in Bible study or Christian fellowship, and therefore, lack any understanding about God and his Word. Parents, grandparents, and elders are commanded in scripture to share about God, his ways, and his Word with the young upcoming generations. Sadly, many have removed this sacred duty from childrearing.
"One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." - Psalm 145:4
"We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise...
