Blog 17: Forgiveness
Hello everyone! Happy Word Wednesday! I know some of you have gotten out of school already or you will this coming Friday. I just want to say congrats! Today’s topic is “Forgiveness”. Something that is sometimes hard for us to do or for others to do. With God’s help and love we can forgive others even when it’s hard. Let’s get into, shall we?
Have you ever had to forgive a friend because they did something very hurtful to you or they did something mean to you? Forgiving someone can be difficult. They might have hurt your feelings really bad and you just don’t know if you can ever forgive them. Someone we all know forgave each of our wrong doings. Do you know who I’m talking about? If not, His name is Jesus. He forgives us each time we lie, disobey, say unkind things, etc. I understand it can be hard to forgive someone but with Jesus’s help we can.
This young man in the Bible, Joseph, was a regular boy minding his business when his own flesh and blood hurt him deeply. Let that sink in. His own family. Let me tell you about the story of Joseph and his brothers. Hopefully when you need to forgive someone it won’t be as hard because this young man did it too.
Bible Story
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Bible Story 〰️
( Genesis chapter 37 ) Joseph was seventeen years old and he had twelve brothers, one sister, and two parents who all lived in Canaan. Joseph was their father’s favorite son. To show it, their father gave him a colorful coat which none of the other sons were given. His brothers started to dislike him. A couple of days later, Joseph had an idea he wanted to share with his brothers. This is verse 6, Joseph said, “Let me tell you about my dream. 7 We were out in the field, tying up bundles of wheat. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles gathered around and bowed down to it”. His brothers were upset. They asked, verse 8, “Do you really think you are going to be king and rule over us?”
Joseph had another dream. Verse 9, “Listen to what else I dreamed. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.” His brothers had had it with him at that point. When Joseph told his father about the dream. He grew upset asking his son “Are we your parents and your siblings have to come down before you?” His brothers envied him but his dad kept speculating what his son had told him. When Reuben returned to the hole ,he was heart-broken to see his brother was gone.
Days later, his brothers took the sheep out for some time. His dad wanted Joseph to go and see his brothers and to show back up with news about their doing. He headed off. When he was within seeing range his brothers noticed him coming. They hated him so much that they planned to kill him. They planned to put Joseph in a ditch and tell their father a savage beast ate him. Reuben, one of his brothers was not okay with that. He told, verses 21- 22, “Let's not kill him,” he said. “Don't murder him or even harm him. Just throw him into a well out here in the desert.” Reuben planned to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.
Isn’t that sweet? One of his brothers actually cared about him. So when Joseph went to greet them, his brothers took his jacket and put him in a dry hole. They went to devour lunch. When they saw vendors they decided to sell their brother for 20 pieces of silver. Joseph was headed to Egypt with the vendors he was sold to. When Reuben returned to the hole ,he was heart-broken to see his brother was gone. They killed an animal and put Joseph’s coat in the blood to make it seem like an animal attacked him. The brothers came home and asked their father if the coat was Joseph’s. The told him they found it, well knowing what they did. Their father wept for days and wished not to be comforted. Fast forward a bit in time and Joseph was sold from the vendors to the King’s official in charge of the palace guard.
Talk about forgiving others. That is a lot to forgive, am I right? Let’s keep going to see what happens. There’s a lot more to the story about Joseph before he sees his brothers again but that part doesn’t really talk about our topic, forgiveness. If you wish to read it you can find that mid-story part in the book of Genesis, chapter 39.
So, at this point 2 years had passed and Joseph is now Governor of Egypt. Long story short, the family ran out of grain so they went to Egypt for some food. It was there that Joseph recognized his brothers. That’s when Joseph told his brothers who he was.( Genesis chapter 45, verses 4 and 5 ) Joseph said” Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.” WOW 😮 , talk about forgiving people. That was a lot to forgive. Let me give you a quick recap of what he had to forgive. His brothers took his coat , sold him off, and told his father ( whom he loved ) he died. Even after all of that Joseph forgave them. Joseph loved his brothers anyway. Like the unconditional love God gives us. He was actually showing another Godly characteristic. Even when we messed up in the past and still to this day God forgave us. He forgave his brothers. So I encourage you today to accept forgiveness from anyone who is asking for your forgiveness. If Joseph could forgive something that BIG we can too.
Have a great weekend! See you guys next week on JUNE 1st! Bye ✌🏽
#FORGIVENESS #GENESIS