(Genesis 45: 4-15; Matthew 18:21-35)
*Have you ever wondered how you could forgive an enemy?
*What sins are unforgivable?
It goes beyond our human nature to forgive the unforgivable. We
hold grudges and harbor resentment. We battle and bicker among
ourselves. It is God's nature, however, to forgive anything and
everything. The worst crime ever committed? God can forgive that.
Your worst mistakes and harshest moments? God can forgive those, too.
Even when you feel that God would never accept you as you are, he
invites you to come just as you are, and he forgives you completely.
Joseph's brothers did the unforgivable--they sold their little
brother into slavery. What an awful thing to do! They did not deserve to
be forgiven. As readers, we long for a moment of vengeance, when Joseph
can get back at them for the years of pain and rejection they caused
him. But Joseph held off. He could have gloated, mocked, yelled, or
punished. Instead, he embraced them. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he
forgave them. As Jesus taught in Matthew 18:35, Joseph managed to
forgive his brothers from his heart.
Perhaps you can empathize
with Joseph's situation. Maybe you're face-to-face with someone who
doesn't deserve to be forgiven. Through Jesus' grace, you can forgive.
Only when you are bathed in God's forgiveness can you extend that same,
rich, ungrudging forgiveness to others.
But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we still sinners
(Romans 5:8)
FOR A MORE IN-DEPTH STUDY, READ: GENESIS 37 AND 42
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