One of the most powerful passages of scripture is found in Genesis 50:20. It is the account of what Joseph said to his brothers after they tried to harm him. It could also be referred to when other people try to hurt you, harm you, say wrong things to discredit you or try to hold you down.

The story of Joseph is too long to detail in this blog but in summary, his brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery to get rid of him and told their father that he was killed. The father wept over his son who he thought was killed. Years later the brothers fell on very hard times and had to come begging in Egypt for food only to find out when they got there that Joseph, their brother they tried to get rid of, was the assistant ruler in Egypt. Imagine the looks on their faces when they realized that the brother they sold into slavery is now in charge of their future.

What is amazing about this passage of scripture is that not only did Joseph forgive his brothers for what they had done, he told them “you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done.” Take a minute and let those words penetrate your heart.

He didn’t try to harm the brothers for what they did. Instead he spoke a very profound statement that restored the relationship with his brothers. If Joseph was living today, the words may have been something like this, “I know you tried to hurt me with what you did but God took what you did and turned it into a good thing for me. Be careful what you do in the future because God has my back.

Joseph made the decision to forgive his brothers rather than live his life in anger, hatred and strife. Forgiveness is probably one of the most freeing decisions you can ever make because THE person you are most helping is yourself.  KT