RPG Adults
FORGIVING AND FORGETTING
LORD’S DAY, MARCH 30
Genesis 50:14-26
Psalm 50:1-11
“We love him because
he first loved us.”
FORGIVING AND FORGETTING
True forgiving means also forgetting. When God forgives, He forgets. God’s Word says, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer 31:34). To those who seek God’s forgiveness, our Lord Jesus says, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt 6:14-15). As Christians and believers, we must learn this lesson of forgiving one another.
Joseph understood this spiritual truth well. The brothers’ wickedness and evil treatment did not make him bitter or vengeful. It was never in his mind to “get even” with them. By faith, he understood the incident at Dothan as an act of God. When he first revealed himself to the brothers, terror and remorse filled their hearts. But Joseph assured them that there was no need to be grieved or “…angry with yourselves…” (Gen 45:5). With eyes of faith, Joseph saw things differently: “God did send me before you to preserve life” (Gen 45:5).
After their father’s death, the brothers, still conscience-burdened, imagined that Joseph might now want to settle old scores. When their message begging for forgiveness as a dying plea from their father was conveyed to Joseph, he wept. What was past was past! The wicked deeds of the brothers had long been forgiven and forgotten. “…Fear not… ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good… to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them” (Gen 50:19-21).
It is said, “To err is human, to forgive divine.” We all need to learn to forgive and forget. Joseph set us the example. Recall how our Lord said, “…Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). May His words from the cross melt our hearts and make them tender.
THOUGHT: (Read Ephesians 4:32.)
PRAYER: Father, grant me the tenderness of heart to forgive and forget.