What if I didn’t have a strong spiritual heritage? - Heritage - TouchPoints

Ezekiel 18:20“The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness.”

Regardless of our ancestors’ lives, we must take responsibility for our own relationship with God. Ours can be the generation that starts a godly heritage.

Nehemiah 9:2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors.

Psalm 106:6Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!

Our ancestors sinned and so have we. We can recognize, confess, and repent of our own sins, just as our ancestors needed to do.

Psalm 119:111-112Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight. I am determined to keep your decrees to the very end.

Acts 20:32“And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.”

We should immerse ourselves in God’s Word to build the foundation for the next generation’s spiritual heritage.

Deuteronomy 5:2-3“The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai. The Lord did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today.”

Psalm 27:10-11Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me.

Regardless of our heritage, God can start his covenant relationship with us. He is able to teach us how to live for him, whether our ancestors were godly or ungodly.

2 Chronicles 33:9-16Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. . . . But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized that the Lord alone is God! After this Manasseh . . . tore down all the altars he had built on the hill where the Temple stood and all the altars that were in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city. Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

Manasseh had a strong spiritual heritage because his father, Hezekiah, was a godly king. So we can see that a positive spiritual heritage is not a prerequisite for a good relationship with God. The opposite is also true, which we can see from godly King Josiah (Manasseh’s grandson) whose father, Amon, was an evil king (see 2 Chronicles 33:21–34:2) But even those who have rebelled against their spiritual heritage can repent and turn to God, regardless of their past.