The BE-Attitudes for Blending Families

As we work on day two of forgiveness, my prayer is that you will continue to grow in your ability to forgive. The power and freedom we experience can perform miracles as we allow forgiveness to become a way of life.

Forgiveness is God’s will. All throughout scripture, God’s people are challenged to live counter-culturally. While the world says take all you can and can all you get, God says be generous and give away what you have. Society says to take, while God says to give. The world says get even, and God says forgive. The world says to hate your enemy but God says to love them. The world says pursue happiness but God challenges us to pursue holiness.

As difficult as it may be to understand, God wills that we forgive others. And He doesn’t make exceptions. God doesn’t say to forgive others unless they …. And then provides a list of righteous excuses for us to refuse to offer forgiveness. Spend time in prayer. Ask God to reveal any area of rebellion you have about forgiveness. Who is the one person in your life who is most difficult to forgive? Allow God to speak to your heart and help you forgive.

Forgiveness heals our bitterness. One of the greatest examples of forgiveness in scripture is the story of Joseph. Because of his brothers’ jealously, he was sold into slavery. Eventually he worked his way into Potipher’s household. Potipher, an Egyptian official, had placed Joseph in charge of his entire household. After being falsely accused of raping Potipher’s wife, Joseph was incarcerated. After his release from prison, he was placed in charge of the entire land of Egypt. You can read about Joseph’s life in Genesis 37-50. It is really a great story of a man who could have rightfully adopted a defeatist attitude that says “can’t win for losing,” yet he remained faithful to God. He was committed to live his life God’s way.

If you read the story, you will see the way Joseph chose to respond to all the injustices in his life. He was left for dead by his brothers. He was sold into slavery as a result of their disdain for him. His father was told he was dead. He was falsely accused by Potipher’s wife. He was put in prison. Yet in all these cases, Joseph forgave his offenders.

After he had been put in charge of Egypt, God warned him that a famine was coming. He was to put back provision from the seven years of prosperity in order to save the people in the famine. In a bitter twist of irony, Joseph’s brothers came to him for help. However, they did not recognize Joseph as the brother they had betrayed all those years ago. Yet Joseph recognized them. And instead of seeking revenge, he showed compassion. How was Joseph able to respond with such forgiveness?

Read Genesis 50:15-21.

Joseph chose to see his own life through the eyes of God. Hurt is a bitter truth to life. Some of our deepest hurts are inflicted at the hands of those closest to us. Although we can’t change what has been done to us, like Joseph, we can choose our perspective. Joseph was able to see beyond the hurt and pain of the rejection of his brothers, and see God’s hand of redemption. God was able to use what was intended for harm, to bring about good. Joseph saw God intervene to take the pain and hurt and use it to save thousands of lives.We see a restatement of the same concept by Paul in his letter to the Romans.

Read Romans 8:28.

You can trust God with the things that have happened to you and the ways you may have been wronged by others. Just like Joseph, God has a plan to redeem the painful experiences you have had at the hands of others.

Consider a time when you have been hurt at the hands of someone close to you. How did you choose to respond?

If you held onto unforgiveness, how has that affected you?

If you were able to forgive that person, how has your life been impacted?

Forgiveness gives us a future of hope. There are a number of scriptures that come to mind when considering how the past impacts us. We can allow the past to completely cripple us and prevent us from experiencing all God desires for our present and future. But one of my favorite passages puts it like this: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on the take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3:12-14.

We can’t change the past. We can’t undo mistakes we’ve made or regrets we may have. But we can stop the past from crippling our present. You can begin today to change how you respond. You can begin today to let go of past hurt and pain and choose to forgive. When Paul talks about “forgetting what is behind,” I don’t think he actually means that we are able to not remember. You are not forcing your mind to pretend it didn’t happen, but you are letting go of the power the past has on your present. Instead of erasing a memory, we are re-focusing our perspective of the past. God wants us to look ahead. Paul says he will press on toward the prize that awaits him. The challenge to each of us is no different. Are you willing to let go of the power of the past, and begin to look toward the future?