In the Gospel of John chapter 5, we see Jesus healing a man who had been sick for 38 years:

“Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’
And immediately the man was made well,
took up his bed, and walked.’”
John 5:8-9

Listen closely to what the Lord then said to the man:

vs 14:
“See, you have been made well.
Sin no more, lest a WORSE thing come upon you.”

“Sin no more …LEST…”

Just as there are physical laws, for example the law of gravity, so also there are spiritual laws. Sin carries consequences and can produce afflictions that affect families for generations.

“…forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
by no means clearing the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
and the children’s children
to the third and the fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:6-7

Forgiveness does not remove the consequences of sin, and those consequences can bring affliction not only upon the sinner, but even upon his/her children.

There is a difference between forgiveness and consequence. A woman caught in adultery may ask for forgiveness and receive it, but if she became pregnant, there’s that consequence to deal with. A man who committed murder may ask for forgiveness and receive it, but that won’t bring the dead person back, nor will it heal his loved ones. These are consequences that can produce very visible results, but many times the results of sin aren’t readily apparent, though they are just as real.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked,
for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,
but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
Galatians 6:7-8

Flee from sin!