spiritual gifts run in the family

His grandmother escaped the Russian pogrom--the murder, the massacre. It was forbidden to mention. She came across the ocean and settled in America, bringing with her her memories and a spiritual gift: the gift of discerning spirits. She could see the spirits of the deceased and the unclean spirits who follow the adversary.

Not an actual photo of my friend's grandma.
Image here.

She passed the gift on to her children, who passed it on to their children. Not every child got it, but a few did. Some benefit from the gift and some do not. It's all in how they use it. 

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I hosted a book club at my house a few months ago with the writer of a famous NDE, and during her lecture she did cover that spiritual gifts tend to run in families. In her own extended family, it seemed that all the cousins descended from one particular individual seemed to have unique spiritual gifts linked to having an extremely thin veil--basically, they more easily than others perceive spirits and things of that nature. 

In my own life, I have family members on both sides of my family who share the same gifts I do. It does seem to be the case that at least when it comes to discerning things beyond the veil, the gift is partially genetic. 

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Does that mean that if your parent and sibling have this gift, that you will too? Not necessarily. As far as I understand it, spiritual genetics are much like physical genetics: I have green eyes and my husband has brown eyes. Both my kids have brown eyes. But maybe one of my kids someday will have blue eyes--a genetic possibility, since my husband's father has blue eyes. Just as physical genes can be recessive or dominant, I believe spiritual "genes" are the same way. The gift to discern spirits may be "recessive." Thus a parent could have it, and one child but not more. Or it could skip a generation and show up a generation later.

Punnet square: genetic concepts.
Image here.

If you don't seem to have this gift yet, does this mean you can't have it? No. The Bible Dictionary entry on faith explains: "Where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, dreams, healings, and all the gifts of God that He gives to His saints." Did you read that? True faith leads to ALL the gifts of God! Developing faith will enable this gift to turn on. 

Is this the kind of gift that could take time to develop? Absolutely. For myself, looking back on my life, I can discern the spirit aspect of it more clearly now, but before about two years ago, I wasn't even looking for it. It has been my observation that more and more people are sort of suddenly developing this ability. One day, it doesn't seem to be a thing, and the next day, they are observing auras, chakras, spirits, etc. I look at it like genetics, again. We all have genes, but sometimes they express differently in different environments. Change the environment, and you change the genetic expression. Develop your faith, for example, and the "gene" for discernment of spirits could turn on. That's how I understand the things I have observed, anyway.

What other questions do you have about this spiritual gift--or others, and how they run in families? Leave your thoughts in the comments!