There is the story of the one son who grew up with an alcoholic father. This son became an alcoholic, he was asked why he became one and his answer was, "I watched my father." The second son was not an alcoholic, when asked why he was not an alcoholic his answer was "I watched my father."
One son chose not to be like his father and the other one used his father as an excuse to indulge in sin.
There has been a push in the last few years to incorporate elements of pagan terminology into the church teaching while sanitizing it a little, by the use of Scripture out of context, to create a new idea.
Any time we see verbiage akin to paganistic practices we should take pause, pray and search the Word for clarification. Not only are the words "generational curse" not in the Bible, the concept is not there either.
There are other forms of paganism relating to demons also that has become popular. One of the teachings that has allowed people excuses for their behavior has been "the devil made me do it." The devil can whisper thoughts in our minds to entice us, but we, as believers are not subject to him, we can choose to disobey the devil.
Romans 8:6-8
"…6 The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s Law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.…"
I was once told by someone that they had the demon of sugar, because they could not keep their hands off of sugar. I am here to tell you there is no "demon of sugar." She went to a church leader to have the demon cast out, but as soon as she was away from the church, the very next day, that old demon was back, he was relentless.
My answer to that person was, you don't have a demon, you are merely lacking self control, pray and choose to restrain yourself if you think you are eating too much sugar.
This same person told me she had the demon of "soap operas", she had an addiction to watching soaps. I explained that there is no demon of soaps, there is only lack of control, self control was needed here through the help of the Holy Spirit and a choice to retrain oneself, we can over come our out of control daily habits.
It is easier to blame a demon than to admit our own sin. In the sin in the garden of Eden, Adam blamed "the woman you gave me Lord, made me do it", and Eve blamed the serpent. Blaming is one of the first tactics of someone who doesn't want to admit a fault in themselves.
There is so much foolishness being preached now, it is a good idea to read the criticisms by godly people rather than the articles that promote the unBiblical practices. An article can convince us of anything if we don't know the Bible and if we don't question the way the Scripture is used.
The criticisms will often bring Scripture back into context where it belongs, expose the terminology for what it is and bring clarity to any matter. Mostly we must pray that God reveal any deception, that we not be sucked into pagan ideas and worldly rationalizations. If we know the Bible well, we will recognize quickly what is not Biblical.
If we are unwilling to look at criticism, it is likely that we want to believe something that entices us or we would want to find out if it was truth or not.
I am reminded of a testimony of a man who was being taught how to recognize counterfeit money. He was being taught every aspect, every line and every curve of the dollar bill to know it very well. When he asked why he is not being shown the counterfeits, he was told that if you know very well the real thing, then you will automatically recognize a counterfeit when you see it.
This is also true of the character of a person. If we have seen and interacted regularly with godly people who love the Lord, we will be able to recognize things in a pretender that will be clear to us.
1 Corinthians 15:33 "33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”"
1 Thessalonians 5:21
"21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
1 John 4:1
"1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world."
Jeremiah 14:14
"Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds."
Jeremiah 23:16
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the LORD."
Jeremiah 29:8
"For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream."
Matthew 7:15
"Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."
