God made us different, but sin, chaos, and evil impact create all types of complex barriers to how our stories will be lived out. Jesus warns in John 8:34, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” Sin takes hold of us and keeps us captive. Sometimes, the impact of our sin is far-reaching and extends into multiple generations. Exodus 34:7 says,
“Keeping steadfast love for hundreds, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will not at all clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the youngsters and the youngsters’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Sometimes, the unfairness we’re grappling with was set into motion by decisions made several generations ago, and we’re still experiencing the results of this sin. In our family, we have now three children through birth and three in our home through foster care and adoption. There is an enormous difference between what my biological kids need to navigate and overcome versus the struggles and losses that our three additional kids need to carry. It’s so very unfair, and infrequently my heart is broken for my children, knowing this just isn’t the way it must be for them.
Our family is showing up, doing our greatest to like one another well, and support one another despite these losses brought on by the sins of individuals we don’t know, going several generations back. Trauma, abuse, and addiction have all stolen from my kids, and the origins of this loss stretch several generations deep.
In our home, we must consistently discuss different hurdles we face. There is an acute realization that the Christian response is forgiveness within the face of sin. The situations we face might not be fair or right, nevertheless it just isn’t our job to evaluate; we’re here to assist bring as much healing as possible and offer whatever grace we will, even to those that have wronged us, because Jesus gives us that very same grace. Our kids often discuss how our actions impact others, so that they can understand that all of us play an element in a number of the unfairness that we have now to grapple with on this world, and ultimately, things won’t be resolved until we meet Jesus in Heaven.
Photo Credit: GettyImages/diego cervo
