Are My Personal Problems the Result of Generational Curses?

A number of years ago, a friend of mine told me his twenty-something-year-old daughter was struggling with numerous health problems and asked if it was possible that she was under a generational curse. Other people have asked me if curses from past generations could have been passed down, causing spiritual problems in their lives.

These kinds of questions arise because certain Bible teachers have misinterpreted a few verses and developed a whole theology of generational curses. By generational curses, they mean that a curse that fell on one generation for sins committed in the past has been passed down to the next generation and then on and on. According to these teachers, these types of curses can cause demonic affliction on later generations even though these individuals did not actually commit the sins of the previous generations. As a result, these teachers have developed workshops and seminars on how to break generational curses, usually involving the alleged casting out of demons from believers and other sensational counteractions designed to break the chain of curses. Although their presentations seem powerful, they’re actually based on weak and incorrect interpretation of God’s Word.

Examining the Claim

As evidence for the existence of generational curses, people frequently cite the biblical commandment against worshiping idols which also states that God would visit “the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Ex. 20:5). The same idea is stated elsewhere in the Torah (Ex. 34:7; Num. 14:18; Deut. 5:9). But it is a mistake to assume that these passages support the idea of generational curses.

The first reason is that the generational curse interpretations miss the point of these verses. They are all designed to emphasize that God’s love and mercy is far greater than His just judgment. For example, after saying that God will visit “the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Exod. 20:5, italics added), the very next verse says that God will show “lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exod. 20:6, italics added). The same message of God’s greater mercy and love is found in Exodus 34:6–7, Numbers 14:18 and Deuteronomy 5:9–10. By reading these passages in context, we better understand the emphasis on God’s mercy and love.

…the Lord Jesus Himself repudiates any idea of a generational curse that would cause the man to be born blind.

Second, these verses are not about curses caused by sin, but rather the consequences of sin. This is captured much more clearly in the CSB translation, which states that God will bring “the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands” (Ex. 20:5–6, italics added). This passage identifies the reason parents must be careful to bring their sinful behavior to the Lord for forgiveness and transformation by Him. Sadly, studies have shown that alcoholism and substance abuse, adultery, anger, and emotional and physical abuse as well as other sins, cause damage, and too often these sins repeat themselves in the lives of the next generation. Heartbreakingly, children often follow in the footsteps of their parents and pass the consequence of that same sin on to the next generation. It’s naïve and harmful to believe that the sinful behavior of one generation won’t cause damaging consequences to the next generation and even the following one.

Presenting the Counter-Evidence

Old Testament Evidence

Although there are observable consequences of sinful behavior on the following generations, there are four biblical passages which present ideas that contradict the idea of generational curses. To begin, the Torah itself, in a section about capital crimes, declares “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deut. 24:16). The point of this command is that people are to be responsible for their own sins. Moreover, it is forbidden to take vengeance on family members for the sin of another, whether parents or children. If God were to send generational curses, He would be violating His own law.

Second, many years later, the prophet Ezekiel affirmed the above Mosaic commandment, stating, “ The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself ” (Ezek. 18:20). When a father or mother sinned, God would not respond by breaking His own principle, punishing the next generation with a generational curse for the parent’s sin.

New Testament Evidence

A third way the Scriptures contradict generational curses is in the story of the healing of the man who was born blind (John 9). There, the disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” (John 9:2). The implication of their question is that it would be possible for the punishment of the parents’ sin to fall upon a newborn baby. The Lord Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). The disciples had adopted the mistaken ideas of Job’s friends, that all suffering is a direct result of personal, or even parental, sin. Although suffering is indeed a result of living in a fallen world, caused by Adam’s sin, the Lord Jesus makes it plain that the man’s blindness was not a result of sin, committed by the parents or the man. Rather, the man was born blind so that God would be glorified in him. In this way, the Lord Jesus Himself repudiates any idea of a generational curse that would cause the man to be born blind.

The apostle Paul is clear—once we come to know the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwells in all of us.

Fourth, the apostle Paul reminds us that it is impossible for a follower of the Lord Jesus to experience condemnation. He writes, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). A generational curse would be a punishment and condemnation passing from one generation to the next. Even if that were possible (which all the above Scriptures indicate that it’s not), then trusting in Jesus would immediately break any condemnation. To be clear and plain, the idea of generational curses goes against the consistent teaching of Scripture.

Breaking the Cycle

Although the Bible rejects any form of generational curses, it is possible for the consequences of parental sin to be passed from generation to generation. In light of that, is it possible to stop the consequences and break the cycle of sin? Absolutely! A child of alcoholics or drug abusers does not have to relive those issues. The Bible gives hope for breaking the cycle of sin in four ways.

A New Creation

First, when a person comes to know the Lord, trusting in Jesus as their Redeemer and Leader, he or she becomes a new creation. Paul writes, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). Coming to know the Lord has a transformational effect—we have a new capacity for obedience to God. God sees us as united to the Messiah Jesus. We really do become new people.

A New Spiritual Power

A second way that God empowers us to overcome the consequences of parental sins is through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul is clear—once we come to know the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwells in all of us. In fact, Paul says, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Rom. 8:9). Clearly, the opposite must be true—if anyone belongs to Christ, he has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him.

When we program our thoughts with the excellence of God’s Word, God uses it to produce obedience in us.

Paul clarifies the significance of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the patterns of sin into which we may have fallen. He declares, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11). The simple point of this is that the very power that was potent enough to raise the Lord Jesus from the dead dwells in us and will enable us to break the cycle of sinful patterns. As we learn to appropriate the Holy Spirit’s power, sin will no longer reign over us and these habitual or even instinctual sins will lose their hold over us. Even though there are no generational curses, there are certainly generational consequences for sin. What God has done by creating us anew and empowering us by the power of the Holy Spirit is strong enough to break harmful family patterns of sin.

A New Community

Third, when we follow Jesus, we are put into a new community, the body of Christ. This community is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” and “growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:20–22). Not only is the Spirit of God at work in individual followers of Jesus, He is building us into a community that looks more and more like Jesus.

That’s why the author of Hebrews encourages us to keep meeting together so that we can “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24–25). It’s also the reason being part of a congregation is so vital—it is one way God works to help us break the cycle of sinful patterns we may have learned from our parents. Just as alcoholics need to go to AA meetings to help stay on the path of sobriety, so we, as recovering sinners, need to be in our home congregations to help us on the path to obedience, thereby breaking the cycle of sin.

A Renewed Mind

A fourth way we can break the cycle of parental sins is through the renewing of our minds. Paul urged followers of Jesus to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). The Scriptures are central to biblical mind renewal.

This follows the basic computer programming principle of “garbage in, garbage out.” When we program our thoughts with the excellence of God’s Word, God uses it to produce obedience in us. Therefore, we need to read, memorize, and meditate on the Scriptures to experience transformed lives (Ps. 1:1–3; 119:9–11).

Final Thoughts

I know a man whose father was violent, angry, and abusive. As a boy, this child vowed never to be like his dad. Many years later, having married and raised a family, a friend asked him how it was that he was able to be such a loving dad and reject his father’s behavior, thus breaking this sinful pattern. This man thought for a moment and said, “As a child, I was determined that whatever my dad did, I would do the opposite. But I would never have been able to fulfill that promise, except that as a teenager, I trusted in Jesus as my Redeemer and Lord. He made me into a new creature, gave me His Holy Spirit, and gave me the Scriptures to guide me and fellow believers to encourage and strengthen me. That’s how God did it, not me.” Clearly, this man demonstrates that the patterns of parental sins need not be replicated in the next generation because God’s “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) in order to break the consequences of sin from one generation to another.