Rochel and Leah said that their own father Lavan treated them like strangers; yet this Lavan HaRasha keeps insisting that Yaakov should be more careful the way he treats his wives. Believe it or not, your Yetzer Hara isn’t very different than Lavan, when you go around accusing yourself for all kinds of evil, when in truth you try so hard to do the right thing.
Do you know why Lavan is especially dangerous, and Yaakov praised himself עִּם לָבָן גַרְ תִּי ,וְ תַ רְ יַ "ג מִּ צְ וֹת שָ מַ רְ תִּ י לב ה I lived together with Lavan, and yet I kept all Taryag Mitzvos? Lavan means “white” (Mr. Good Guy), and Tzaddikim tend to be self-critical. So when Lavan keeps criticizing Yaakov, Yaakov needs to defend himself, or else he can lose everything, Chas V'shalom. וְלָבָן בִּּק ש לַעֲקוֹר א ת הַכֹל Lavan tried to uproot us entirely. If you think you’re a zero, Mr. Good Guy, full of “honesty”, you can lose all your Avodas Hashem, Chas V’shalom. Chazal say: אַל תְהִּי רָשָע בִּּפְנ י עַצְמָךְ אבות ב יג Don’t look at yourself as a Rasha.
