Last week while reading two books at the same time, the Bible and Patrick’s Swayze’s Time of My Life memoir, I was struck by something that sent a chill up my spine.

In the Bible, under 1 Samuel 2:33 it says: “Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.” God told the Priest Eli this because Eli allowed his sons Phinehas and Hophni, who were also priests, to run wild in the temple with no regard for the Lord. These wicked sons slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They also gorged themselves on the sacrificial food brought to the temple for the Lord. The Bible says Eli was a very fat man. Obviously these sons inherited gluttony from their father.

The same day I read the passage in 1 Samuel about Eli and his sons, I also read in Patrick Swayze’s memoir this quote from Swayze: “It’s a fact that Swayze men have never lived to ripe old ages. My father died at age fifty-seven, the same age I am now. My paternal grandfather also died young, and most of my uncles never saw the other side of forty.” Only months after finishing his memoir, like his father, Patrick Swayze passed away at just fifty-seven years old.

Is there such a thing as a “dying young” curse placed on a family by God? I believe there is and sadly it seems the Swayze family has fallen under such a curse. In other places in the Bible, I’ve read about descendants dying in the prime of life because one of their ancestors deeply displeased God. There are many other curses listed in the Bible that befall people. Read Deuteronomy chapter 28 beginning at verse 15, the Curses for Disobedience. If you believe the Bible, this passage should sober you.

As a parent, I am concerned about the legacy I will leave my kids. The last thing I want to do is bring curses on them. I’ve already seen how easily generational sins can be passed on to children. Upon gaining my driver’s license at 16 years old, I put the pedal to the metal just like my mom. When my daughter was granted her driver’s license at 16, that lead foot afflicted her too. One day while riding with my daughter, I asked her to slow down. “I got it from you, Mom,” she tossed in my face. After that, we prayed together not to be speeders.

What we inherit spiritually has been weighing on my mind the past few months. Partly because of my own experiences, and partly because I keep unintentionally picking up books that speak on this subject of spiritual inheritance.

Recently while reading Francine Rivers latest mother/daughter novels, God forced me to face something I’ve been trying to escape for years. Here it is in a nutshell: while pregnant with each of my children something arises that threatens the pregnancy. It’s been a little different with every baby, but the result has always been the same: I find myself on bed rest begging God to heal me and allow my baby to live. I’ve had premature labor, a serious infection, a torn placenta, more bouts of premature labor, a Down Syndrome diagnosis, this always seems to happen about midway in my pregnancies and has occurred every time. A number of family members have reminded me my grandmother lost a baby in the middle of pregnancy. So did my mom. In fact, my mom lost two pregnancies.

Perhaps it’s in the genes, or just coincidence, but I don’t think so. I don’t believe in coincidences. I think something spiritual is going on and Jesus has been pushing me to recognize this and deal with it. So finally this seventh pregnancy, I did. It was painful to work through. I had two months of bed rest to do it, but I’m so glad God didn’t let me off the hook this time as He has in my past pregnancies. I feel lighter now, as if a burden I was born with has been lifted. Hopefully my daughters will never experience this pregnancy curse.

As Christians, it’s important to remember Jesus bore every curse on the cross for us. The blood of our Lord covers all. If you think you may be under a curse somewhere in your life, I encourage you to take it to the cross. Ask Jesus to help you work through it. We all have a spiritual inheritance to face. Let us face our inheritance in the light of God’s love and healing grace.