Have You Learned to Care?

The account of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37-45 holds many great lessons that continue to teach us even today. By reading about his life we can see the hand of God in every situation, both pleasant and unpleasant, guiding Joseph to just the right place at just the right time to save many people, even his brothers who had treated him so badly in the years previous. God has a plan for your life, and while all the moving parts of it may not be momentarily pleasant, the result is excellent and will further His purpose to save souls if we walk with Him.

Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and lied to his father Jacob to make him believe Joseph was dead, and not by their hands. They hoped to never see Joseph’s face again, they hated him so much. Years down the road, however, a severe famine struck the land so that Jacob sent these brothers to Egypt for food. Unwittingly, they came before the brother they betrayed, Joseph, who remembered every cruel act they had performed.

Those brothers were at Joseph’s mercy, bowing before him begging for the means to survive. How would you treat them? Remembering that they took away your family life and sold you as a slave, recognizing that because of their actions you spent years of your life wrongly imprisoned in Egypt, and recognizing that now you have the power to execute them with a word, how would you treat them? Would it not be tempting to sarcastically reveal yourself to them, deciding their fate with a word and a smirk?

Has someone wronged you lately? Have you been on the receiving end of insult and injury, of salt in an open wound? Have you been stung by a momentarily painful part of God’s plan for your life? Remember the words of God concerning how you ought to respond:

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (Romans 12:14 NASB95)

“Never pay back evil for evil to anyone…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17a, 21 NASB95)

Joseph understood these principles of a godly life, and lived them as he received his brothers with tears, welcoming them to Egypt and forgiving their sinful and evil behavior toward him, because he recognized that God had a greater purpose in mind, and that He used their evil choices and ultimately produced good from them (Genesis 45:3-8).

Have you learned to care like Joseph cared? Have you learned to care like God cares? Have you learned to care about the people who mistreat you and to do good to them rather than evil? It is a milestone in every Christian’s life to begin living this command from God. If you haven’t yet, begin living it today. Treat your enemies as the Lord treated you, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34 NASB95).

Originally posted on October 23, 2016