Forgiving Through the Generations: How to Break the Chains of the Past

You may have difficulty seeing your bitterroot judgments. Pray and ask God to reveal the judgments that you have made against your parents. These judgments were made over many years. Make a list of your bitterroots. It may take some time. God will reveal what you need to know when you need to know it.

The first time that I made a list of my bitterroot judgments against my parents, it took me three weeks. I was reluctant to make the list because I felt that making the list was disloyal. However, I was not looking for my bitterroots in order to judge my parents. I was looking for my roots in order to take responsibility for my sinful judgments. I made those judgments over many years.

As you look at your list of bitterroot judgments, focus on habits or patterns that you have noticed that have repeatedly brought you frustration, heartache, or grief. Do you repeat patterns of behavior that are damaging to you or others? How many times have you confessed your sinful behavior to God and asked forgiveness for your sin? Do you continue to repeat the behavior no matter how much you confess it and pray to be set free from it?

Some examples of bitterroots that indicate that you might have judged your parents are perfectionism, addictions, critical spirit, emotionally unavailable, hostility, manipulation, working continually, rejection, uncontrolled anger or rage, bitterness, rejection, or performance orientation.

How Do You Cancel a Bitter-Root Judgment?

1. Confess your bitterroot judgment. Name whom you judged and what you judged them for.
2. Pray for forgiveness and repent and renounce your sin, which means to fall out of agreement with it.
3. Ask God to nail your sin of judgment to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)
4. Allow yourself to grieve any feelings of pain or loss and release them to God.
5. Ask God to remove any unforgiveness or other sins from your heart and replace them with the opposite of those sins.
6. Ask God to give you a new heart by faith. Ezekiel 36:26
7. Ask God to meet the needs that were not met in you as a child. Some of the basic needs for adults and children are unconditional love, acceptance, worth and value, security, recognition, nurture and emotional nourishment, and comfort.
8. Ask God to show you how this bitterroot has affected your relationships with others. Pray for God to heal those
relationships.
9. Thank Him for your answered prayers. (Philippians 4:6)

Ask God to lay the ax to the roots of your bitter judgments. Matthew 3:10 says, “ And already the axe of God’s judgment is swinging toward the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (AMP)

What are some of the benefits of forgiving through the generations and breaking the chains of the past on the present generation and future generations? A few of the benefits are love, joy, peace, faith, freedom, forgiveness, grace, mercy, gratefulness, kindness, goodness, healing of relationships, flexibility, and acceptance of others.

You can become a repairer of the breach who restores relationships. Isaiah 58:12 says, “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.” (NASB)

Finally, there are many blessings and advantages that come from forgiving through the generations. You can rebuild some of the broken relationships in your family. You can repair the destruction of many generations. You can help to heal the wounded hearts and the grief of some of your family members.
Isaiah 61:4 “Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities,The desolations of many generations.” (NASB)