Do We Hate Our Children?

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I was reading in Joshua today about serving the Lord and no other gods. As I read in chapter 24 about how God punishes those who align themselves with Him but choose to do evil, I thought of another verse.

"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, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." -Exodus 20:5-6

I realized how much our personal holiness effects our next generations. We all think of the thousand generations that will be blessed, but how much thought do we give to the next four generations that will bear the weight of our misdeeds. Do we love our children enough to forsake false gods, seek after personal holiness, and truly rest in the righteousness of Christ? If we were willing to cling to a habit or idol that could result in a lifelong struggle for our children and our children's children, wouldn't that look more like hate? Does the Lord see it as He says in Exodus, as though we hate Him? Is our sin a sign of our hostility towards our Maker? Are you willing to give up a personal idol to exchange the curse of future generations for a blessing? Do you love your children that much?
This really isn't about you.

Choose to love. All we need is Jesus.

* Great video below about the church.

Comments

Sandra Bickham said…
That was terribly interesting. Thanks for posting.
9:44 AM
Steph Cherry said…
Thanks, Sandra. I keep asking Denbigh if I am a little too intense. He always says, "yes, but the days are short." I guess I will carry on.
10:29 AM
Warren Baldwin said…
Very good post, certainly a challenging one. I haven't thought in terms of our imposing burdens on our chldren as being an act of hate, but it could be. Some of it may be simply a flawed character, but, if we do it by choice, it could be hate. Something to think about, thanks.
wb
6:47 PM
Steph Cherry said…
Thanks, Warren. That word really got my attention and I started to ponder the reality of my willful sin as fleshly hate. Thanks for commenting!
8:24 PM
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