http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2048-50&version=NIV
Genesis 50:19-21 – “But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”
When we are wronged, we have two choices. We can respond with bitterness or we can respond with forgiveness. Bitterness is resentful of hardships and trials. It hangs on to the pain and keeps the wounds from healing. It avoids confrontation with the offender, shoving the offense down deep in the heart, allowing it to fester. It can even hinder the fulfillment of God’s work in our lives. Forgiveness remembers the struggle and the growth that came from it. It sees the bigger picture of purification and cleansing. It realizes God’s amazing providence. It acknowledges the hurt and comes to terms with it. It allows us to carry on and allow God to work through our lives.
In Genesis chapter 50 we saw in Joseph an amazing illustration of forgiveness. His brothers weren’t quite convinced that Joseph had forgiven them because they knew their sin was great and they knew they didn’t deserve forgiveness. They feared that since Jacob had died, Joseph would now unleash his retaliation against him. Joseph surprised them when he spoke comforting words of reassurance and forgiveness instead of harsh words of vengeance and retribution. Joseph acknowledged that although the brothers’ plan was for evil, God used it for good.
Why was Joseph able to forgive? After all, that couldn’t have been an easy thing to do. The name of Joseph firstborn son explains a lot. His firstborn was named Manasseh. My study notes say that the name sounds like the Hebrew word for “making to forget”. In Genesis 41:52, Joseph gives his reason for naming his son Manasseh - “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household.” Joseph attributed his ability to forgive to God. It wasn’t sheer willpower. He didn’t just decide to push it down deep in his heart and forget about it. God was able to make him forget his hardship and focus on His purpose for him. Ezekiel 36:26 says “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh”. God gave Joseph a new heart; a new spirit of love and grace. In forgiveness, Joseph was able to see the growth that came from the struggle he had gone through. In forgiveness, Joseph was able to see God’s amazing providence at work. In forgiveness, Joseph was able to reconcile with his brothers. In forgiveness, Joseph was able to carry out God’s plan in delivering the Hebrew people from starvation. Why is this so important? In forgiveness, Joseph preserved the Hebrew nation from which Christ our Savior descended. In this case, forgiveness saved us all for it is through undeserved grace & forgiveness that we are able to be saved through Jesus Christ today.
Colossians 3:13: says “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” We are commanded to forgive and often that seems downright impossible. But remember nothing is impossible with God. He can change your heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh.
Is there someone in your life who you are having trouble forgiving? Have you tried time and again to forgive someone, only to have bad thoughts pop back up again? Don’t rely on your own strength and willpower to overcome the bitterness. Make the choice to forgive and ask God to join you in cultivating a new heart and a new spirit. Ask Him to plant seeds of love and compassion; and to weed out the bitterness and the hurt. It may not happen overnight, but God will walk with you every step of the way.
Today's blog submitted by Kelly Coxe
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I like your verses and thoughts. Colossians 3:13: ...Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
ReplyDeleteWhat helps me forgive others is to see my own sinfulness. As I realize how much the Lord has forgiven me it becomes easier to forgive others. My big problem comes when I do the opposite. I don’t see my sin thus I don’t appreciate God’s forgiveness. Real fast, I move into self righteousness. It made me laugh once when the Lord showed me something about my own judgmental attitude. At the end of the service where they say,"Please bow your heads and don’t move or leave for any reason. This is a very special moment…" I was looking around and thinking, “Look at all these people leaving, they should be praying!!" The Lord reminded me real fast how much I was praying at that moment too.
If we start praying for those who are treating us wrong, it becomes hard to hold unforgiveness toward them.
Forgiveness is difficult per our fallen, judgemental, selfish nature;however, I probably don't merely speak for myself in saying that it gets much easier with practice.
ReplyDeleteThe Lord can change our hearts and minds into products of our being made as new creatures, creating a new desire(s) to want peace.
**The trick is knowing the difference between apathy and forgiveness because forgiveness requires a change in behavior, not just words such as, "I'm sorry" or what-have-you.
There are well over 100 verses about peace starting with the Torah, and throughout the New Testament as well.
Mark 9:50-->Have peace with one another.
Isaiah says peace is analogous with a river.
James 2:16-->...depart in peace.
Paul said to the Ephesians the Gospel is the Gospel of peace.
Mathew 5:9-->Jesus said Blessed are the peacemakers:for they shall be called children of God.
And on and on and on...............
**Meditating on this is a great way for me to start or end my day.
For me, a great barometer of how I am doing in my faith, on a minute-by-minute basis, is to gage my level of forgiveness vs. unforgiveness.
Romans tells me one of the most important things I will ever need to know-->Paul writes in Romans 5:1-->Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. WOW!!
**If I am at peace with God, then and only then can I be at peace with man. This cannot happen without an ability to discard the act of judging others actions.
Being that I have always liked animals much more than people, because they are not passive-aggressive, that promise is extremely powerful and personal to me.
Peace and love!
Like your points to. This is a big subject and an important one. No wonder the Word spends so much time on forgiveness and peace.
ReplyDeleteSad to say, a lot of our problems we are going face will between other believers in Christ. ie family members. Jesus mentioned the word Church two times in the gospels. The first time in Matt 16 He said. He would build it. Thank God!, we don’t have to build it. The second time is in Matt 18. The context of this is forgiveness and problems among believes.
I love what a realist God is. He said I will build the Church and we will have problems in it! Many people get offended by other believers in Christ: condescending attitudes, offenses, gossip, jealousies and just plain unfriendliness toward each other. If you haven’t been offended by someone in the church, you will.
But like you said about peace with God. Are we going to let others rob us of our peace? We must strive to maintain the peace. He has already given it to us.
Another word about forgiveness. Forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same thing. Joseph's brothers tried to kill him. He did not reveal his identity to his brothers and let them back into his life until he was sure that they had a repentant heart. Never feel that just because you are a Christian who is supposed to forgive, that you should risk being harmed by the offender over and over again. That is a lie from the evil one.
ReplyDeleteKC
Thank you for this message and comments.
ReplyDelete