Rod Handley, Character That Counts

“Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!” Deuteronomy 11:26

When talking to sons and daughters about their father, most people either claim their dad was a hero or a zero. If dad is present, they either love their dad deeply or they despise him. Whether positive or painful, it’s always personal and can deeply affect the core of our identity and the direction of our lives.

The positive presence of a dad in a family shapes in many ways, a healthy masculinity in the lives of sons and also a healthy femininity in his daughters. On the flip side, the negative presence of a dad can create devastation.

Here’s an indisputable fact we know about a dad. If a dad steps out of his home and shuns the responsibility of being a father, Satan steps into the void. The devil is eager and very willing to move into the home and fill the gap.

Dads pass on a legacy to their family—one which is either godly or one of sin and wickedness. Fathers pass on God’s blessing or God’s curse to future generations. A dad who refuses to live a godly life passes on to his children a life of captivity. Often, according to Exodus 20:5, 34:7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:9 and numerous other passages, a dad’s sin is reproduced and the sin extends to the third and fourth generations. There is a direct tie between generational bondage and generational sin, which is why you find certain sins wreaking havoc on a family line generation after generation.

II Chronicles 26-28 details the progression of generational sin which began with King Uzziah. Pastor Phil Hopper summarizes it this way, “What began in the first generation (Uzziah) of failing to take God seriously and obeying God completely was reproduced in the second generation (Jotham) with spiritual apathy and compromise with idolatry. It was then reproduced in the third generation (Ahaz) with a complete rejection of God and full-blown idolatry. It ends with the fourth generation with a number of Ahaz’s children being sacrificed in the fires of a foreign God—Molech.” Perhaps if Uzziah had realized his disobedience many years earlier was going to result in his great grandchildren’s awful deaths, he might have chosen to live a godly, holy life and passed along a blessing instead.

According to Dr. John Trent there are five elements to giving a powerful blessing:

1)      Give a meaningful touch and joyful face.

2)      Give a spoken message, specific to the person you are honoring.

3)      Attach high value to them by speaking of their character and strengths.

4)      Speak of a special future and the plans God has for them.

5) Make a commitment to honor and support them always.