Hello everyone, Shalom in Christ! Welcome again to the devotional program, “Joseph at the Marketplace” by GLOBAL REACHOUT. I am Tom Nohelty.

Day 17: The Heart of Forgiveness

Today, the Scripture is taken from: Genesis 42-45.

Theme verse:

“There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.” Genesis 45:11 (ESV)

The past two days have been confusing — if forgiveness can involve punishment and confrontation, how do you know if your motives are in the right place? How do you know if you are firing an employee because you are angry or because that truly is the right course of action for the organization and for them?

It comes down to our hearts. C.S. Lewis wrote:

The real test is this. Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one’s first feeling, “Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,” or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies as bad as possible? If it is the second, then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils.......

Time for Reflections.

1. Read and reflect on Ephesians 4:29-5:2 again. What insights do you glean from it?

2. What do you need to change about your engagement in your workplace to reflect God’s heart of forgiveness?

3. What stood out to you most from the C.S. Lewis reading?