Lord, I find the genealogy of my Savior strangely checkered with four remarkable changes in four immediate generations. Rehoboam begat Aria; that is, a bad father begat a bad son. Aria begat Asa; that is, a bad father begat a good son. Asa begat Jehoshaphat; that is, a good father a good son. Jehoshaphat begat Joram; that is, a good father a bad son. I see, Lord, from hence, that my father’s piety cannot be handed on; that is bad news for me. But I see also that actual impiety is always hereditary; that is good news for my son.
Thomas Fuller.
The point
A father's piety cannot be passed to his son, but impiety often is, warning parents to model godliness.
