Bad family blood

A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.         Prov. 10:1

Solomon said this. He aught to know. Look at the family he came from. Solomon learned, from observing his older brothers, how not to be, and where you could end up in the end. King David had such sadness with his sons. What a burden they proved to be. King David had only to blame himself for the destructive outcome of his family. For you see, it was all due to the consequences of his own sins. When David took what wasn't his (Bathsheba), and murdered an innocent man (her husband, Uriah), he sealed the fate of his own family. The sword never left his house.

Let's take a look at David's family. Amnon rapes Tamar, his half-sister and forever ruins her life. Absalom, his older brother, finds out about it, he waits two years, and has his brother Amnon killed. Absalom sleeps with his father's concubines in the face of all Israel, in plain sight, and forms a coo against his own father, King David. Adonijah makes several attempts to prevent his younger brother, Solomon, from becoming king. Adonijah was older and normally he would have been next in line for the throne, but God decided differently. God chose Solomon to be king. Solomon had to sternly address his own mother on the issue of her son Adonijah who tried to use her to get the position he so coveted.

Solomon saw or knew some things within his own family that was unreal, horrible, and destructive. There was jealousy, envy, evil, and treacherous behavior, crimes, sexual assaults, murder, lies, and deception. What older sibling could he look to for advice let alone godly advice? He saw the character and the lack of integrity his brothers had. 

Some of us  have experienced negative things within our own family that have forever impacted our lives. It does happen, more often than not. Just like God did in David's household, He does for others. In the midst of all the murder and mayhem, God raises up a Solomon!

God is grieved when the family structure fails to be what it ought to be. Children are the innocent victims in it all. They are hard pressed to be emotionally, and psychologically whole. When you are born into a severely dysfunctional situation, you're already doomed before you get started. Children growing up in such environments become conditioned, and more than likely will repeat the cycle of dysfunction.

Hope can be found in Jesus! He can help us break that cycle! He gives power, real power to escape the chains of a terrible life. You and I are not responsible for what we were born into, after all, we didn't pick our family, but we can certainly do differently. 

Having Christ in your life makes all the difference! You can now become what God intended you to be. You can rise above it all and lead your family into a new way of thinking and being. Bad Family Blood doesn't have to be what runs through your veins!

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