Parents live with a constant awareness of the world’s influence on our children. We work overtime trying to protect them, from choosing schools carefully, policing the internet, monitoring what they watch, paying attention to their friends. All of that is part of being a good parent, and it matters. But sooner or later, we all realize the same truth: despite our best efforts, the world eventually creeps in. What we often fail to notice, though, is the deeper problem. The most influential depravity shaping our kids isn’t “out there” in the world—it’s us. Their parents. Even though we love them and would never intentionally harm them spiritually, we do. Our own dysfunction runs so deep and hides so well that we often don’t see its impact until it’s already taken root. That’s exactly what we see in Jacob’s family. As we finish this section of the story, the dysfunction and treachery in that household remind us that sin doesn’t just come from the outside. It grows inside families, inside hearts, inside us. And it shows just how desperately we need a Redeemer who can break cycles we can’t even see.
