Proverbs 14:18
Have you noticed that families often have
many things in common? They often speak with a similar accent, use the same
phrases when describing things, even have common jokes. This makes sense since
they had to have spent time together. Being similar to the rest of your family
makes sense. This doesn’t mean that individuals can’t make the choice to be
different, but it must be a choice.
Wisdom, or the lack of it, often runs in a
family. I notice it often with addictive behavior and abuse. Families seem to
pass along the dysfunctional pattern of coping with life’s stressors. Every
problem gets ‘solved’ the same way, with a drink. They don’t deal with things;
they just numb themselves to the painful emotions. And this pattern gets
learned by the next generation.
You can’t pass along to your children what
you don’t possess yourself. If you don’t exercise wisdom, then you children
never get to see wisdom in action. They don’t have a model to follow. They have
no example of what wisdom looks like in action. In fact, they have just the
opposite. They know what folly looks like and it is familiar to them. Folly
becomes the comfortable, familiar path. And so the next generation follows the
previous into a life of disobedience to the LORD.
Just as foolishness runs in families, so
wisdom does as well. Knowledge gets pass along from one generation to the next.
It too gets modeled and becomes the familiar, comfortable path. And the
benefits become evident over time. They are cumulative, increasing in depth and
breadth. Knowledge pays off over time. But following the LORD is a choice.
Salvation is not inherited!
It can be very difficult to end the pattern
that was passed along to you by your family. Some segments of society seem
almost frozen in their pattern. Only a few escape the poverty and dysfunction.
Fathers are absent from the family. Poverty abounds as a result. Single parents
get overwhelmed with the responsibilities and despite their best efforts the
children follow their example. What a difference could be made if the pattern
were broken.
Imagine if the fathers married the mothers
and stayed involved in the family, two incomes instead of one, children getting
to see what hard work and dedication could accomplish. This would not magically
solve all the problems, but it could set a new pattern. Kids would know what
loving fathers and husbands are like. They would know what responsibility looks
like in the face of difficulties. Knowledge would be passed along, instead of
having to be gained new with each generation.