"Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." He named the second Ephraim, "For," he said, " God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." Gen 41:51-52
Most of us have a pretty good memory, especially regarding the details of times and places we have been wronged and the individuals who are responsible. We remember them so well in fact that we carry these memories around with us as if they provide us with some sort of comfort. We nurse these hurts as if they are somehow beneficial. In fact, they are not. They are in many ways, self imposed prisons bars that restrict our freedom of movement and kill our joy.
In order to lead full and happy lives, we must learn to forget past wrongs done to us, but how? Joseph's woes are well documented in scripture. He was betrayed by family, falsely accused by someones wife, thrown into jail and forced to endure the heartbreak of forgotten promises and separation from those he loved. If there was anyone who ever lived that had a right to be bitter and vindictive, it was Joseph.
But the scripture says that God helped him to forget. He put his faith in God rather than man. Ultimately, he was put in position to save a good portion of the civilized world from famine. In so doing, he was made to prosper.
Beloved, holding grudges only holds us back. We do ourselves more harm than the objects of our disdain. Yes, forgetting frees them from the prison in which you have placed them, but it also frees you. What others may have meant for evil, God may have planned for good.
Loving Like Jesus,
Lee
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