Genesis: The Story of God's FaithfulnessSample

EMPOWERED TO FORGIVE 

Listen to the audio guide to hear the complete devotional with Scripture, teaching and a worship song! Find a condensed, written version of this devotional below: 

Forgiveness can be really hard, especially when we are hurt by people we care about. Joseph can relate. He was betrayed by his own brothers. But in Joseph’s story, we see that he finds freedom from bitterness and resentment. He is empowered to forgive. What enables Joseph to not only forgive but to also weep over his restored relationships with his brothers and to offer to take care of them and their families? 

First, Joseph recognizes God as being in control the whole time. “God sent me here” Joseph says. While technically, yes, the brothers sent Joseph to Egypt, Joseph recognizes that this act was in God’s plan! Second, Joseph sees the good that God brought from the hurtful circumstance. It was only because Joseph was originally sold into slavery that he could rise to power and save a whole country of people, including his own family, from starvation! Because Joseph trusts God, understanding that God was in control of and brought good from the situation, he is able to forgive his brothers. 

Third, Joseph is able to forgive because he recognizes he is not in the place of God. “Am I in God’s place?” he asks. Even if Joseph did not recognize any good that came from the situation, he would still not be in the position to withhold forgiveness. He knows that judgement is in God’s hands. 

How can we apply these principles to our own hurt? We can find peace in the reality that God was sovereign, or in control, over the situation, and that he is working good from it. Doing so doesn’t excuse the offender or minimize our pain. But it helps free our hearts from frustration and bitterness. We can also surrender judgement into God’s hands! Withholding forgiveness only keeps us tied to the offender. But in God, we can be released from the toxicity of resentment and experience freedom. 

REFLECT: Say or journal a prayer, articulating to God a situation in which you have been hurt. Then, ask God to help you trust him in the situation and be freed from any resentment you might be holding onto.