COV LIFE BLOG

Genesis 42:1-45:15 – Forgiving Others No Matter How Large The Offense

As freeing as it is to know that God holds no record of confessed sin, the forgiven one is now faced with the command to forgive others (Eph. 4:32). Forgiving others is not an option. It is a command. When we forgive we are conformed to the image of Christ in attitude and behavior. He forgave. We are to follow His example. Let no one think that forgiving is easy. Forgiving is costly. Forgiving cost God His only Son. Forgiving cost Jesus Christ His life. Forgiving will cost you. But while forgiving is costly, failure to forgive is even more costly. Why, then, do some hold on to anger and bitterness?

There are those who think some offenses are just too great to warrant forgiveness. Little wrongs can be dismissed, but they hang on to the “biggies.” Joseph did not consider even tremendous cruelty at the hands of his own family too difficult to forgive. Joseph’s brothers hated him so much that they stripped him of his favorite garment, cast him into a hole in the ground, and sold him as a slave. He was deported to a strange country with a different culture and language, where he was thrown into prison for many years on a false charge.

Later, when Joseph rose to become second-in-command to Pharaoh, he had opportunity for revenge. Not recognizing him, Joseph’s brothers stood helpless before him, asking to buy food to keep their families alive during a famine. Eventually, Joseph not only gave them food, clothes, and silver, but sent wagons and animals to transport the entire family and all their possessions to Egypt from Canaan.

Never in the Word of God will you find that any crime is too great to forgive. Jesus died to forgive all sin. How can we as Christians have the audacity not to forgive one for whom Christ died?

Ruth Server

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MEDITATION ON THIS WEEK’S SERMON PASSAGE
Read Genesis 42:1-45:15.

Who and where is it difficult to forgive? How can you look to Jesus to grow your heart for forgiving as he has first forgiven you?

SONG FOR THE WEEK
Saviour of the World by Ben Cantelon