In 1870, there was a man helping out in a prison facility in the U.S. He discovered that 42 inmates shared a common ancestry. They were traced to a man named Max Jukes, he was their great grandfather in about 5 generations before them.
Max Jukes was a thug, irresponsible and womaniser. He had 11 children with different women. When his lineage was traced, it was discovered that 300 of his seeds died poor, 400 were drunks, 190 were prostitutes, 150 were criminals and from his loins came 7 murderers.
Around the same time Max Jukes lived, there was another man named Jonathan Edwards. He was an upright man, a teacher and preacher of the gospel. Like Max Jukes, he had almost a dozen children. His lineage produced 13 college presidents, 65 college professors, 75 military leaders, 80 public servants, 60 authors, 60 doctors, 30 judges, 100 pastors, 100 lawyers, 3 U.S. Senators& 1 U.S. vice president.
If Max Jukes had lived in our clime, someone may have told his descendants that they are under a spell or some generational curses whereas it is not. What happened in the lineage of Max Jukes is simply a result of bad or ungodly modeling from one generation to another. That evil cycle started with one ungodly and irresponsible man who modeled ungodliness to others till it became a pattern.
Some behavioural pattern that runs in a family/ lineage is as a result of what a progenitor modeled to others. They caught it and lived it until it became a pattern. That cycle can only be broken when another person who has been transformed by the Spirit&the word takes the centre stage to re model godliness to the young ones.
The way you live your life as a parent creates a pattern and template for your children and the next generation to follow. Why? Children learn by imitation that is why you must be an example of a godly model worth imitating.
Irresponsible parents will likely raise irresponsible children. Couples with chaotic&abusive marriages will likely raise children who do not value the sanctity of marriage. Why? They do not have good models in that regard.
What we see in the life of Jonathan Edwards is a fulfilment of Psalm 112:1-2 which says, "Praise ye the LORD. BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT FEARETH THE LORD, That delighteth greatly in his commandments. [2] HIS SEED SHALL BE MIGHTY UPON EARTH: The generation of the upright shall be blessed".
Dearest, know that as you are living your life today, you are deciding how you want your generations yet unborn to live tomorrow. Godly and responsible living today will impart generations to come. The choice is yours.
