When children are young, their parents tell them they can be anything they want to be when they grow up. This encouraging affirmation usually allows children to try new things, learn what they’re good at, and then go out in the world to turn their skills into a career. As the Bible tells us, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it” (Proverbs 22:6 NLT).

Sometimes it doesn’t happen this way, though. Sometimes parents model the wrong path to their children through their own choices, and when the children grow up, they either can’t or won’t depart from the same patterns. Bad habits and chains are hard to break, particularly when they’re generational.

This appears to be the case with Hunter Biden.

Joe Biden has lived a high-profile life, having now spent 52 years in public office. Over that time, he has amassed a personal fortune of about $10 million through hard work and by what many people believe to be criminal means. Therefore, we should not be surprised when his son Hunter follows in his footsteps.

Case in point: Here’s a news tidbit that might have gotten buried in all the other recent headlines about Hunter’s felony gun conviction in Delaware last week and forthcoming tax-evasion trial in California in September, and those things might portend for his father’s chances of re-election. Last year, Hunter filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s former legal advisor, Rudy Giuliani, claiming that the infamous laptop he had abandoned at a Delaware repair shop was not his and that Giuliani’s revelation of its contents before the 2020 election were defamation of character.

Until Friday. Three days after a jury convicted him of three felony gun charges, Hunter quietly dropped his defamation suit against Giuliani—because the FBI confirmed in court that the laptop was real and the information it contained about his and his father’s illegal business dealings and unsavory personal practices was legitimate.

Biden filed the lawsuit knowing from the outset that everything Giuliani was saying was true, and everything he was claiming was a lie.

What kind of person does that?

Those Poor, Unfortunate Souls

A case can be made for Hunter being empowered to pursue that course of action because all his life, he’s seen his father suffer few, if any, consequences for a litany of alleged sins. But these aren’t small indiscretions; these acts and lawsuits are being waged on the world stage.

What emboldens Hunter to attack Rudy Giuliani, Garrett Ziegler, John Mac Isaac, and the New York Post in an effort to conceal the truth?

But he’s got plenty of company. Remember, 51 intelligence officers signed their names to a document declaring Hunter’s laptop to be “Russian disinformation.” (For what it’s worth, the White House is now saying video evidence of President Joe wandering confusedly around the G7 Summit is similarly “misinformation” concocted by his political enemies.) Now that the infamous laptop has been legitimized, these ex-intel officials are neither recanting nor apologizing for their story, instead doubling down on the claims they made in the “patriotic” letter, according to Fox News.

Sure, the evidence on the laptop was super-incriminating for Biden, so it’s not hard to justify waging the kind of damage control that involves ravaging people’s lives. “What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).

What kind of person does this? The easy answer is a soul apart from Christ.

There is a pattern of pain and brokenness that seems to surround the Biden family. We may not know its roots, but it clearly radiates out to others, passes through at least three generations, and leaves devastating effects. The old adage “hurt people, hurt people” comes to mind.

But whatever the reasons for it, the apparent level of corruption that is just now starting to come to light across the whole Deep State is unprecedented.

Can Anything Separate Us from Christ’s Love?

However, these wrongs that Joe and Hunter appear to have committed at the vast expense of others can be righted. Forgiveness and redemption are available — at least with God. (We won’t rule out the possibility it might also be possible with people, but we won’t bet on it.)

Hunter has now dropped his lawsuit against Giuliani. While it clearly was because there is no case to be had, it would be wonderful if this turned out to be his rock bottom, a turning point for him and his family.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39)

It’s easy for us to be angry at politicians and people who seem to prosper in their wickedness, but let’s remember Psalm 37 and pray for them instead. Pray for Joe and Hunter to feel convicted about the pain they have caused. Pray that they will repent and turn from their ways and toward the Lord.

The Lord wants more from and for His Bride — and that means us.

Gayle McQueary is The Stream’s social media specialist. She has a background in production and is a scary judge of current events.