Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Self-control”
Our Bible verse for today: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good … So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.” Genesis 50:19; 21 (NLT)
Our thought for today: “Exercise self-control in difficult relationship situations.”
Yesterday I wrote about Joseph’s excellent example of restraint and self-control, and I noted that it was a dominant part of his character. As long as we’re considering his good example, I want us to see how he applied self-control to difficult relationships.
If you’re familiar with his story then you know that as a child his eleven brothers hated him and treated him badly. So much so that one day they beat him up, held him captive, then sold him into slavery in Egypt. They then lied to their father about what happened to Joseph and told him that he must have been killed by wild animals.
Joseph then spent thirteen years as a slave, much of that in prison, before God intervened and Joseph ended up being elevated to the second highest position of leadership in the land, second only to the Pharaoh himself. That happened because of Joseph’s sterling character and the way in which he honored God in all that he said and did.
Nine years after that (twenty-two years total), Joseph’s brothers arrived in Egypt, desperate and in need of help. Joseph could have used his exalted position to seek revenge on his brothers. Instead, keeping with his character trait of self-control and restraint, Joseph dealt with them kindly and with mercy and compassion, even extending forgiveness to them. There was no revenge, just grace.
How was Joseph able to handle such a difficult situation so well? We get some insight into his thinking in Genesis 45:5-7 when he said to them, “It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.”
Joseph viewed all of life from the perspective of God’s Providence and Sovereignty. He knew that God was in control of people and events and that every experience in life has been allowed by God for a purpose. This point of view allowed Joseph to take a step back and see the bigger picture, rather than just the specific details of what his brothers had done to him.
But, it takes a big man to do that. A small-minded person gets stuck on the fact that they’ve been wronged by the other person, and they don’t have the strength of character to let it go and move beyond it. A strong person of character and integrity is able to exercise self-control in such things, putting aside petty feelings of resentment and revenge, and see the bigger picture of what God is up to in all of this.
If we exercise self-control in difficult relationship situations then ultimately it will be God’s will that prevails – and that will always result in the best outcome for everyone involved.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 