Leaving Your Past Behind 06

Overcome Your Inheritance

We learn from our parents. Various digital pictures of parents. Particularly those who look alike. What I learned from my mom: 10. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE - "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside - I just finished cleaning!" 9. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL: "I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!" 8. My mother taught me FORESIGHT - "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident." 7. My mother taught me IRONY - "Keep laughing and I'll give you something to cry about." 6. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS - "Shut your mouth and eat your supper!" 5. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM - "Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck!" 4. My mother taught me about WEATHER - "It looks as if a tornado swept through your room." 3. My mother taught me how to solve PHYSICS PROBLEMS - "If I yelled because I saw a meteor coming toward you; would you listen then?" 2. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY - "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times - Don't exaggerate!!!" 1. My mother taught me about ENVY - "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do!" THANKS, MOM! We are all shaped by our parents. We are their product. And this has a powerful effect on the way we live. Talking about making peace with our pasts. Part of your past preceded you. Your heritage.

each of my children and see some part of Amy or me in them. They are different from us in a thousand ways, but they are exactly like us. I cant explain it. We inherit from our parents. Here is a picture of Micah and Me. See the similarities! You know.

B. You inherit their predisposition.

One of the more exciting and frightening breakthroughs in the scientific community is the human genome research. Scientists have mapped the human gene sequences. This will allow them to predict certain kinds of sicknesses that people might face. It will create a whole new method of medical treatment. Doctors will begin to treat illnesses on the basic level of the gene versus symptomatic therapy. The downside is that certain illnesses are genetically predisposed. They will be able for example to tell if you are going to have cancer. This could cause some insurance companies to deny coverage based on the genetic prediction. Whole New World of discovery. And ultimately it will point back to what you get from your parents.

C. You inherit their nature.

We inherit from our parents. But we get more from them than our genes. One more thing you get from your parents: the nature to sin. Psalms 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Maybe no more powerful statement made than this. Dr. Ron Allen shared this interesting idea to our class. He thinks that David might have been speaking literally. Literally born in sin. He notes that Davids mother is never mentioned. Elders were afraid. He wasnt summoned. He was an outcast. His brothers treated him poorly. Also see a real softness for discipline in his children. He is a type of Christ. Interesting that David sinned morally. Even if he hadnt. He had their nature. Sin my mother conceived is broader. All sin. Think about that: the sins of the parents are seen in the lives of their children. Alcoholics tend to have alcoholics. People with sexual sins tend to pass that on. We tend to fail where our parents fail! Bottom line. There is a cycle of sin. You know what that also means. The degree of societal decay accelerates. Its basic math. If you inherit the tendency to abuse

I.

You Have An inheritance.

You have an inheritance from your parents right now. Your parents might still be alive but you have inherited things from them. Like it or not.

A. You inherit their appearance.

Eye color, hair color. Skin type. I have my fathers shape and face. Micah has my shape, but fortunately he got Amys face. I can look at

alcohol from you father and he has three children then there are three more potential alcoholics where there was one. And if those three children have three children now there are 3x3 plus the original 4. Within two generations the number of alcoholics have grown from 1 to 13. And the snowball continues. Consider this: Dallas Morning News 1/11/96. Adultery has been increasing over the past two decades, with 25 percent to 40 percent of married women and 50 to 65 percent of married men having had at least 1 one liaison at some time in a marriage, according to various studies.

inherited it. And by the time she was 16 she was out of school, out of the house living with a man. Man we live in a world of children living with the sins of their parents. Not only the nature to sin but the inherited consequences. Some of you are there. Your past started three generations before you were born. Man you struggle with it now. Doing things you swore youd never do. Things you hated that your parents did. So what do you do? How do you respond?

D. You inherit their consequences

Not only do we inherit the nature to sin we also inherit the consequences of our parents sin. Exodus 20:5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, Exodus 34:7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." Numbers 14:18 The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations. Deuteronomy 5:9 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, Tough lick. But its true. Little crack baby struggling for control had nothing to do with the way she was born. Children of out of control parents struggle with neglect and abuse. I remember a girl named Lynn. Her father and mother were totally out of control. Raging fights. She told me about a time when her mom and dad had this huge row right before he left for work. He stormed out the door with her in hot pursuit. Screaming at the top of their lungs. Neighbors staring. Lynns mom threw her dads cereal all over the car. She said her dad seldom came home at night. Her mom would frequent the bars. Lynn was left at home as a 15 year old to watch her little brother and sister. She didnt do anything to earn that horrible life. She
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You received an inheritance. But you must break the cycle

II.

You Must Change Your Inheritance

You dont have to be what your parents were. Let me introduce you to an exciting new verse of scripture that alters the natural course set out in Deuteronomy. Jeremiah 31:29 "In those days they will not say again, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the childrens teeth are set on edge. Jeremiah 31:30 "But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge. You no longer have to suffer for the sin of your parent. You have a choice. You can break the cycle. Here is how.

A. Take Responsibility for yourself.

I know a man who is 43 years old. Son of an alcoholic. He is an alcoholic. His dad was a womanizer. He was a womanizer. His dad was married three times. Hes been married twice. Whenever the subject of his father comes up he is angry. Has little respect for his dad. Harsh tones. Critical. What he cant see is that he has become his father. Why is that? Why would he do the very thing he hates? All of his life he has blamed his dad for all of his problems. And true, much of the insecurities that he has are directly linked to his dysfunctional dad. But blaming dad has gotten him nowhere. I remember hearing a Bible teacher say that when you focus on the one that hurt you, you become like the one you focus on.

Lena Williams, Adultery View: just dont do it Dallas Morning News 1/11/96.

Focusing on your parents sins wont get you anywhere. People will be what they will be. The only one you have control over is you. So you must take responsibility for your life. Romans 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. Each one of us shall give an account for our own sins. Not our parents. Your sin is your problem.

B. Seek the Lord

I have to tell you this is no self-help deal. Problem with self-help is that you just reshuffle the same deck. A girl will have a mother with a compulsive gambling problem. She hates it so bad in her mother that she never gambles. But she is compulsively bitter, or eats compulsively. Or has some other out-of-control behavior. Dont need to adjust your behavior. You need to alter your nature. You cant NOT sin. Jeremiah 13:23 "Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil. You are locked into the inheritance of your parents. So to get out of that you need a new daddy. And the only way to get a new daddy is to be born again. Turn to John 3. See the need is to be reborn. Born of the flesh inherit the nature of your fleshly parents. Nothing you can do about that. Born of the spirit, inherit the nature of your heavenly father. And what an inheritance that turns out to be. New father, new nature, new future. Change your inheritance. Change your life.