Generational Inheritance

This might sound weird, but I genuinely think that God has blessed my family with car safety and favor. What do I mean by that? Well, my mom has multiple stories of coming out of bad car accidents completely unscathed. I personally have also never been injured in any car accident I’ve been in and also have a ridiculous ability to get really good parking spots with no effort on my part. After hearing about and being a part of these different experiences and stories and realizing that some of these situations could have only been made good by God, I began to realize a pattern in my family of having favor in situations when it comes to cars.
 
This is a very small example of generational inheritance. Generational inheritance is essentially when blessings or gifts given by God to one generation are inherently handed down to the next. These can be both more spiritual and practical in nature.

Examples of generational inheritance can be found throughout the Bible. One example of heavenly inheritance and conventional promise of God is dated back to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 7. God promises Abraham that through him, God will bless all of the families of the earth and his descendants will be greater than the number of stars in the sky. Generations later, Jesus is born through Abraham’s family line. And all of the families of the earth are blessed by Jesus.
Another example where God’s favor and generational inheritance occurs is when God honors Hannah’s faith in 1 Samuel when she asks the Lord for a child; whom she dedicates back to the Lord. Through this promise to Hannah, God blesses her son Samuel with a relationship with Him and significant power and authority over Israel.

Generational blessings can look like so many things. They are often seen in patterns and promises fulfilled from one generation to the next. Here are some examples:

• Gifts of the spirit: prophetic gifting, wisdom, tongues, healing, hospitality, discernment, teaching, etc. 
• Fruits of the spirit: you might see parents who have supernatural amounts of peace, love, patience, etc. having children who also flourish in those areas
• Practical things: financial blessing, favor with man, special talents (music, athletics, artistry), etc.

There isn’t a limit to how God can and will work in these ways.
 
So, how can we see these things in our own families?

I would encourage you to ask yourself and God these questions:

• What things of God do you see in your family?
• What gifts do you see in your parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and siblings that you’d like to see in yourself?
• What gifts and fruits have you seen in multiple generations of your family?

See if you can name some of these things. Then go from there about how to see these things cultivate in your own life. If you see your parents actively engage in a gifting or a blessing, ask them their stories and experiences. If you see something that you’d want for yourself, pray and ask God what it would like for you to walk in that power. Don’t put pressure on yourself to do anything perfectly. Rather, realize that an inheritance is something not earned, but rather given.
 
I also want to make the note that families are not perfect. Some people reading this might have families where you feel like you cannot see anything with the hand of God on it. While it may be hard, please know that God can unearth good things buried way beneath the bad. He is a God who works all things for the good of those who love Him. He can take any bad thing and make it good. Also, if you see bad patterns in your family, please know that you can be the one to change the history in your family. With God, you can be the one to start a new inheritance. You are not enslaved to the ones who have come before you, but rather you are completely able to be empowered.

And rest assured that more than you are able to receive the blessing of those that have come before us, we can walk in full confidence, that as children of God, we are heirs to Christ through Him we have access to each and every good thing (Romans 8:17).
 
Author | Hannah Cole