Right now, a young woman lies in a coma in a hospital, in a medically induced coma, brought about by addiction.

How did this happen?

Have you ever heard of “Generational Sin”?

Deuteronomy 5:9b-10 states, “I do not leave unpunished the sins of those who hate me, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations. But I lavish love on those who love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.” (NLT)

How it works. When a person has sinned, that sin stands in need of being confessed. If the person doesn’t confess it, then his children must confess it in order to break the generational pattern. Like an “outstanding” debt, the person’s sin “hangs out there,” impacting his descendants, until it is addressed through confession and cleared away. We are not required to take responsibility for our ancestors’ sins, but we are to acknowledge and confess their sin. (We agree with God that they were wrong and that God was right.) God asks us to accept responsibility for our own sin and to repent and be humbled. Understand that the passing down of iniquity (sin) is just that – the passing down of iniquity (sin). My parents’ sin does not become my sin, until I have made the choice to sin myself in the same way.

And, even the children of the Rich and Famous are not exempt.

Pagesix.com reports that

The daughter of late pop queen Whitney Houston was found unconscious in a bathtub at her Georgia home Saturday — nearly three years after her mom died tragically in a tub in a Los Angeles hotel.

Bobbi Kristina Brown was clinging to life after apparently suffering a drug overdose, just as her mother had, “Entertainment Tonight’’ reported, quoting a source who insisted it was not a suicide attempt.

Whitney Houston accidentally drowned in a bathtub inside the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 11, 2012, with cocaine, Xanax, marijuana and muscle relaxant in her system.

A second source told the magazine it was “no coincidence’’ that the 21-year-old aspiring singer was found in eerily similar circumstances.

Brown’s husband, Nick Gordon, and a friend found her underwater in her home in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Ga., and administered CPR until help arrived.

Paramedics took her to a local hospital, where she was in a medically induced coma and breathing with the assistance of a ventilator, police sources said.

Brown’s father, R&B singer Bobby Brown, was at her bedside Saturday.

Brown had recently hinted at wanting to pursue her own music career.

“Promise to release some thangs for your enjoyment. . . One thing you CAN depend on is my mother taught me well,” she tweeted.

On Thursday, she added: “Let’s start this career up&&moving OUT to TO YOU ALLLL quick shall we!?!???!!!!!!!!” along with several music emojis.

She also appeared on the Lifetime reality show “The Houstons: On Our Own” in 2012. She inherited millions of dollars from Houston.

Nick Gordon and Bobbi Kristina BrownPhoto: ZumaPress

But Brown was battling demons of her own.

On her 18th birthday — as well as after Houston’s funeral — she was accused of doing cocaine, the Daily Mail has reported.

Months after Houston’s death, she got engaged to Gordon, whom Houston raised with Brown as an adopted brother.

But her family criticized the relationship, with grandmother Cissy Houston calling it “incestuous.”

And in November 2012, she was busted for speeding after slamming her Chevy Camaro into an embankment in Alpharetta, Ga.

Per additioninfo.org,

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, having a parent who is addicted to drugs or alcohol can lead to lifelong problems if the child or teen doesn’t receive help and support.

About 25 percent of U.S. children younger than 18 years are exposed to alcohol abuse or dependence through a family member, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Exposure to drug abuse affects countless others.

More Likely to Become Addicts Themselves
Research shows that these children are more likely to develop depression and anxiety disorders during their teen years. And the likelihood that they will use drugs or alcohol early, and – for both genetic and environmental reasons – become addicted to these substances, is higher than those who do not grow up in these environments. In fact, this population is at the highest risk to become drug and alcohol abusers, according to the National Association for Children of Alcoholics.

Foster Care, the Juvenile Justice System, and Therapy
Children of addicted parents are also more likely to end up in foster care, the juvenile justice system, and – once they reach adulthood – therapy for mental health disorders, marital problems, and trouble parenting their own children.

Addicted parents often lack the ability to provide structure or discipline within their families, according to the National Association for Children of Alcoholics. They also tend to be less patient and to expect more from their children than do non-substance-abusing parents.

Child Abuse
The majority of child welfare professionals report that substance abuse is a factor in at least half of all child abuse cases. More than one-third of these workers say it contributes to at least 75 percent of the cases.

In today’s culture, more and more young people, usually raised in non-Christian Homes, and identifying themselves as “libertarians”, espouse the view, as frequently seen in their posts on Facebook, that drugs should be legalized., and the use of them has no effect on anybody but the user themselves.

And, they are very, very wrong.

Whether you are a Christian or not, one fact is certain, as study after study shows, parents are role models for their children, right or wrong.

If they see you drinking around them, they are more likely to take up drinking.

If they see you using drugs, including smoking pot, they will be more likely to model that behavior, as they get older.

I have always observed that alcoholics and addicts are very selfish people, consumed by a very selfish behavior.

This selfish behavior consumes them to the point where it becomes the priority in their life, requiring more attention that anything else in it, including their children.

In the case of Bobbi, now on Life Support, her self-involved parents, Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, failed her.

Their sin became “Generational”, when she adopted their lifestyle of drug and alcohol abuse.

God’s Word admonishes us, as parents, to

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.- Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

If her parents had changed their lifestyle and publicly repented of their drug and alcohol abuse, perhaps Bobbi would not be lying in that Hospital Bed, floating between here and the Afterlife.

And, perhaps her mother would be standing with her father, guiding her in “the way in which she should go”.

Actions have consequences…to more than just the individual acting irresponsibly.

Until He Comes,

KJ