If you come from a home where anger, fear, depression, and perversion were the norm, your parents didn’t have it figured out. And unless you’ve properly processed those things and been healed, neither do you. No matter how you slice it, this is not a Christian home in the true sense of the word (and you don’t have to cover up for your pitiful family, by the way). You won’t go to Hell for sitting down with a friend, pastor, or counselor (make sure it’s an actual Christian), and sharing the truth about your past. I’m not saying we should specifically seek to expose others or look for someone to blame, it’s just that no one is being blessed by you keeping secrets. However, it sure makes Satan happy and gives him something to work with. In religious circles, people (especially children) think everyone is having the same experience. After all, we all dress the same, are taught the same things in school, and listen to the same sermons at church, so surely we’re all on the same page, right? Wrong. We all go home to a different environment, with different parents who have different values and issues. Some parents are good, some are bad, some are actual Christians. Yet we throw it all into the same boat and give it the same name (whatever denomination you happen to be raised in).
Many children are forced to believe they are being raised in a Christian home, when they are beaten and abused regularly. No wonder they eventually rebel, and hate their parents and God. In these cases, the children are forced to hide everything when they are young (many times this becomes a personal choice as well, in order to make-believe they have a good life). Then it manifests through rebellion in the teen years (by this time the parents usually have their own issues well hidden, so in most cases it looks like the children have gone completely crazy for no apparent reason). Next after making a total fool of themselves, some of these teens decide they are tired of the insanity, after all they now appear to be in far worse shape than their parents ever were. So they find someone as pitiful as themselves, settle down and get married with a “won’t this be grand” attitude. This is short-lived, and when children come into the picture they trigger the parents in every way imaginable. When these new parents recognize rebellion in their children (the same rebellion that is still hiding within themselves), they think they are doing the children a favor when they beat them into submission. These children eventually rebel and the cycle repeats itself.
What is the answer? It’s actually very simple, but easier said than done. People need to be healed. We will repeat the failures and mistakes of the previous generation unless we rise up and become real Christians, and break free from real curses through real healing and forgiveness (for more on healing and how to prepare for it, read “The Healing Journey”).