Passage Read: Genesis 45-48
Meditation Verses: 45:4-8
Thought
There is never a proper resolution to Joseph's treatment at the hand of his brothers. He has forgiven them, but he keeps preempting their chance to make things right. There's never a confession on their part, never a seeking of forgiveness. On their part, there is only a plea not to punish them for their sin, and even that is in the words of their father. Joseph has forgiven them; he understands God's purpose in allowing all the things that happened to him, and he's made peace with it. But his brothers continue to live in fear of Joseph, knowing what they did to him and how he could carry a grudge. I can't help but wonder if they had made a confession and sought Joseph's forgiveness, would their consciences have been cleared and would they have been able to live in peace too?
Application
On the one hand, I believe I need to give others the chance to confess their sin against me, so that when I forgive them, they can gain peace, knowing they made things right on their end. If I keep telling them I have nothing against them, that everything worked out for good, then they get no chance to make things right and their consciences continue to bother them because they haven't confessed and renounced their sin. It stays in their heart and conscience, and they don't know what to do with it. Likewise, even if someone says all is right between us, if I know what I've done to sin against them, I need to confess it to them for my own sake, to clear my own conscience, even if they say there's no reason. Better to go through the whole process for the sake of my own conscience, rather than to allow that thing to weigh on my conscience.