Breaking Generational Curses of Trauma

When it comes to the traits we carry, both the Bible and science have much to say. Our journey through life is often shaped by the legacy of our ancestors, for better or for worse. Here are a few things you should know about curses.

Truths About Generational Curses

1. The Scripture tells us that we can inherit traits from our parents.

• Traits in the Family Line: The Bible tells us that our actions have repercussions, sometimes affecting our children and their future. For instance, Exodus 20:5 warns that sins can impact up to the third and fourth generations.
• Generational Blessings: On the flip side, as seen in Proverbs 3:33, God’s blessings can rest upon the home of the righteous, showing that good this can also be passed down.
• Faith as an Heirloom: 2 Timothy 1:5 shares how faith can be passed down from grandmother to mother, and then to the child, demonstrating that spiritual traits are part of our inheritance.

2. God many times dealt with families not just individuals

The Bible is full of stories where God deals with families rather than just individuals. Noah, Lot, the households of Rahab, and the Centurion are a few examples where the families were saved. Similarly, we see in Scripture that there was also a destruction of entire families where unrepentant evil took place.

3. Science Confirms we Inherit Traits From Our Parents

It’s obvious that things skin color, eye color, and even sickness at times can easily be passed on through DNA.

However, research in epigenetics reveals that our environment and behaviors can affect how our genes work. For instance, if a parent smokes, this doesn’t change the child’s DNA, but it can change the way the body reads the DNA sequence. Meaning that they don’t “have to smoke,” but in fact, they are wired with a proclivity to smoke. As Christians, however, we can break those curses in Jesus’s name.

4. Everyone has the original generational curse (Rom 5:18-19)

Because of Adam, we’re all born under the curse of sin. This curse causes all of us to walk with a sinful nature. As a result, this original sin creates a cycle of our personal sins, sickness, and death, which can only be broken through Christ.

Birth gave us that curse, but Christians who believe in Jesus can break that sinful nature. Because it is crucified with Christ, we can experience a new life and the blessing that comes from the Second Adam (Jesus). This new life affects everything about our morality, our peace, and our connection with God.

5. Whatever is not transformed by God in one generation, gets transferred to the next.

It’s important to understand that this type of curse is passed down through the generations and reflects the same recurring problems and troubles that all of our previous ancestors experienced. We see an example of this in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There was a pattern of lying, favoritism, brothers getting cut off, and poor intimacy.

6. Sometimes we have to go back in order to go forward.

Be aware of your past. Examine the script that got given to you from your past and rewrite it with God. If you’ve gone through abuse or the lack of a father figure, you need to allow the Lord to help you deal with the past. Deal with the wounds if you want to move forward in life.

7. Some battles didn’t start with you but need to end with you.

Stories like the one about the Amalekites show us that some struggles have deep roots in history. Just like Mordecai in the Book of Esther, we may find ourselves facing old battles. It’s up to us to end them.

How to Break the Curses

To break free from these cycles, we must go through several steps:

1. Recognize when something is repeating that doesn’t line up with Scripture
2. Repent for any way you may have contributed to that, or repent for your ancestor’s sake for allowing that.
3. Renounce any curse that the Lord is highlighting to you verbally.
4. Release forgiveness to people who may have hurt you.
5. Replace the weeds with seeds. Replace thoughts, attitudes, and actions to align with God’s Word.
6. Resist and stand against the patterns of behavior that are ungodly.

As 1 Peter 1:18-19 tells us, we are redeemed through Christ, which empowers us to break free from past cycles and forge a new legacy for the future.