spiritual blessings and curses...

early on in my rededication to God, i heard a number of people talking about spiritual blessings and spiritual curses. as i had understood it, these blessings and curses are handed down from generation to generation. although i never really bought into the idea, it had piqued my curiosity because my family has struggled with some of the same "curses" from generation to generation.

as i've grown in my faith, i've learned a bit to discern what sounds good and what is biblical. i'm by no means saying that i'm an expert, but i've learned that i need to always refer to the bible and the context in the bible to develop an understanding of what is being said.

so this morning i decided to read a bit in ezekiel...i found chapter 18's subtitle of "God is fair" to be of interest, so i read that chapter. i was reminded of spiritual blessings and curses in this chapter...honestly, something that i had put to the back of mind. and as i read, i was interested by God telling ezekiel about a grandfather, a father and a son.

using the deeds of each of these people God explains how a man's salvation is not dependent upon his father's or grandfather's deeds. in a very brief paraphrase, God tells ezekiel that a grandfather can live right and good in God's eyes and enter into heaven. but his son could be evil and wicked and not make into heaven. furthermore, the son could reject his father's evil ways and live right and good and make into heaven.

does that make sense?

God is telling ezekiel that each man is judged by his own life, not the actions of his predecessors...nor does a man's actions necessarily carry down the family tree into future generations.

this is only part of ezekiel 18, but it was the part that stood out to me most...