DECEMBER 10, 2025
GENESIS 50:20-21
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives …he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”
Do you ever catch yourself comparing your life to someone else’s? Honestly, in the age of social media, it feels almost impossible not to. Think back for a moment, maybe to a time when jealousy got the better of you, or when someone else looked at you with envy.
That’s exactly the kind of tension Joseph faced. He grew up with a bunch of brothers, but their dad clearly favored him. The jealousy boiled over until his brothers did something unthinkable: they ganged up on him and sold him into slavery. Just pause on that for a second—they literally sold their own brother.
Fast forward through years of hardship, and Joseph eventually lands in a position of power. When his brothers come to him desperate for help, he doesn’t take revenge. Instead, he does the opposite, he shows them grace. He forgives.
Joseph’s story is just a preview of something even bigger: the grace we see in God’s Messiah. Jesus shows us what it looks like to forgive when betrayal cuts deep. He teaches us to love the very people who hurt us, and to choose peace instead of payback.
I’ll be real, I don’t always live up to that example. But Joseph’s story, and Jesus’ life, remind me that grace is always possible.
Perhaps as a reminder for us today, the teaching that Apostle Paul gives us in I Corinthians 13:4-7 is worth pondering.
“no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.”
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives …he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”
Do you ever catch yourself comparing your life to someone else’s? Honestly, in the age of social media, it feels almost impossible not to. Think back for a moment, maybe to a time when jealousy got the better of you, or when someone else looked at you with envy.
That’s exactly the kind of tension Joseph faced. He grew up with a bunch of brothers, but their dad clearly favored him. The jealousy boiled over until his brothers did something unthinkable: they ganged up on him and sold him into slavery. Just pause on that for a second—they literally sold their own brother.
Fast forward through years of hardship, and Joseph eventually lands in a position of power. When his brothers come to him desperate for help, he doesn’t take revenge. Instead, he does the opposite, he shows them grace. He forgives.
Joseph’s story is just a preview of something even bigger: the grace we see in God’s Messiah. Jesus shows us what it looks like to forgive when betrayal cuts deep. He teaches us to love the very people who hurt us, and to choose peace instead of payback.
I’ll be real, I don’t always live up to that example. But Joseph’s story, and Jesus’ life, remind me that grace is always possible.
Perhaps as a reminder for us today, the teaching that Apostle Paul gives us in I Corinthians 13:4-7 is worth pondering.
“no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.”
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