Spiritual DNA
A Family’s DNA
Have you noticed how families share memories, mistakes, and movie lines that have become part of who they are as a family? For my family, we have several from “The Princess Bride.” The most random line that pops up is, “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.1” A close second is:
Fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia,' but only slightly less well known is this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.2’
My wife’s family has a cherished memory related to a hymn. When the "five sisters" were young, their whole family attended church together. One Sunday, as the congregation sang the hymn "Love Lifted Me," the older sisters noticed that the “baby” sister was singing, "Ya yippa me!" This moment has become a fond memory of one of the times when they shared church as a family.
It’s strange how these bits of shared memories become part of the DNA of a family. More important are the Bible verses, hymns, and church memories that we plant into our children. The Holy Spirit had King Solomon pack a lot of wisdom into the words: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.3”
Spiritual DNA
For our family, most of us have a life verse, a verse that we lean into when hard times come - it’s part of our spiritual DNA4. We wouldn’t be Christians if hard times didn’t come. How else would we know if we had faith? And as it is written in the Book of Hebrews, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.5”
Christian parents need to make it a practice of singing hymns and praise songs and quoting Scriptures in their homes, as they do in church. By bringing the church into their homes, the life of Christ is woven into their families’ DNA. And this DNA is desperately needed.
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. - Ephesians 6:12
In the Princess Bride, when Inigo Montoya drew his sword on Count Rugen, he meant business. For us, we are told that God has given us “the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left.6” As born-again believers, we were born for battle; it’s in our spiritual DNA.
Feel free to add your PG-rated movie lines in the comments below.
Footnotes
Wikipedia contributors. (2025, June 29). Inigo Montoya. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Inigo_Montoya&oldid=1297983296
The Princess Bride. (n.d.). Wikiquote.Org. Retrieved July 18, 2025, from https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride
Proverbs 22:6 - A Good Name. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved July 18, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/proverbs/22-6.htm
For this article, spiritual DNA is a metaphor for the work of the Holy Spirit in a person or family.
Hebrews 12:6 - God Disciplines His Sons. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved July 18, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/hebrews/12-6.htm
2 Corinthians 6:7 - Paul’s Hardships and God’s Grace. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved July 18, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/6-7.htm