Some battles did not begin with us, but through Jesus Christ, they can end with us.
Deliverance minister Daniel Adams says recurring patterns of addiction, adultery, anger, divorce, bitterness and occult involvement can reveal what he calls a “family altar.” These spiritual agreements or destructive practices may have been established generations ago and allowed to continue unchecked.
“What existed before you does not have to continue through you,” Adams said. “You are the stop of it.”
Adams pointed to Judges 6, where God commanded Gideon to destroy his father’s altar to Baal before confronting the Midianites. The order matters. Before Gideon entered a public battle, he had to address the spiritual compromise inside his household.
“Before you deal with the enemy around you, deal with the altar among you,” Adams said.
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Believers must examine what repeatedly appears in their families. Was addiction normalized? Did bitterness take root? Did adultery, violence, divorce or occult practices pass from one generation to another?
Adams cautioned that not every family problem comes from a demon. People also make sinful choices. However, once we recognize an ungodly pattern, we must refuse to accept it as our inheritance.
“You cannot tear down what you continue to defend,” he said.
The Cross Outranks Your Bloodline
Freedom begins when believers repent for their own sins and renounce every agreement that contradicts God’s Word. We can love our families without repeating their bondage.
“This may have been a part of my family history, but it will not become my identity,” Adams said.
The believer’s greatest weapon is not uncovering every hidden act committed by previous generations. It is understanding what Jesus accomplished at Calvary.
“The cross is greater than your bloodline,” Adams declared. “The blood of Jesus is greater than your family history. Your genealogy does not outrank Calvary.”
Yet spiritual warfare does not end when an old altar falls. Adams said Christians must build something new in its place. Prayer must replace occultism. Faithfulness must replace adultery. Forgiveness must replace bitterness. Worship, Scripture, holiness and obedience must become the foundation of the home.
“You aren’t merely saying, ‘My family will no longer do this,’” Adams said. “You’re saying, ‘My family will now serve Jesus.’”
Someone must become the pattern breaker. Someone must declare that the enemy will not carry yesterday’s bondage into tomorrow’s generation.
Through Christ, that someone can be us.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
