Genesis 50:16-17
“So they sent word to Joseph, saying, ‘Your father left these instructions before he died: {This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.} ‘Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.’ When their message came to him, Joseph wept.”
It may come as a shock to you, but I have been guilty of some things the Lord made me aware of and people have been hurt by my actions. I have always attempted to ask to be forgiven. In most cases forgiveness has been given, but in others there remained anger and resentment.
In many cases when we hurt someone the only thing we are able to do is to confess it to God and also confess it to the one or ones who have been hurt. If they accept our confession we can have restoration of our relationship. The most difficult thing is when they say they forgive, but refuse to forget. It is almost as if they are crouching in the shadows waiting for us to sin again.
I once heard the story of a man who had been unfaithful to his wife. He came to his senses and begged her to forgive him. She told him he would have to earn her forgiveness. Year after year he took her abuse and bitterness. She became gravely ill and he was attentive to her every need. When she finally recovered she told him that she now forgave him. He told her that it was too late to forgive him. He had paid for his unfaithfulness by serving her and that he was leaving. How sad!
Joseph had forgiven his brothers long before they came to ask his forgiveness. It was because of the plan God had for them that he had suffered as a slave. He was a wonderful example of what it means to forgive and then forget. Can you?
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil