Forgivness

Forgiveness is hard and sometimes painful. But  God commands it. In Matthew 6, right after teaching the disciple to pray Jesus says  "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Ouch. 

 There are many examples in Scripture of forgiveness. Jesus Himself with his dying breath said "Father forgive them for the know not what they do." 

 But let's turn for a few moments to the very first book of the Bible. I'm not going to put it here because if I did you'd still be reading next year, but I encourage you to read at your own time Genesis Chapters 37, 39-45.  

 In these passages we read of a young man named Joseph. Joseph was mistreated by his 10 older brothers and is sold into slavery in Egypt at age 17. There with the help of God he earned the respect of Pharaoh and became ruler of the land next to Pharaoh himself. Due to a lengthy famine Joseph's brothers appear in Egypt. 

 This story is portrayed very powerfully by Sight and Sound Theater. In this full length production, the cast portray Joseph wrestling with God and finally forgiving his 10 brothers for what they did to him. 

 Now that might seem like a nice story with a happy ending like a fairy tale, but its not a fairy tale. It's real. I have learned over many years that forgiveness, as hard as it is, is freeing . And like we see in the story of Joseph, forgiveness reconciled a family. 

 Who is God asking you to forgive?

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