INTRODUCTION
We are continuing our series on OT Patriarchs by looking at Joseph. Joseph gives one of the best examples of forgivness found in the Old Testament. Today over 50% of marriages end in divorce. One of the main reasons is the refusal to forgive and recieve forgivness. David Seaman in his book Healing for Damaged Emotions said,"The two primary causes of emotional stress are the failure to forgive and the failure to recieve forgivness." This morning we will see from Joseph’s example howto extend and recieve forgivness.
I. HOW TO EXTEND FORGIVNESS
A. Choseto extend forgivness (Gen 45:2-3)
a. Do it for the sake of the family (Gen 45:3a)
B. Don’t minamize the offence (Gen 45:4)
a. Don’t take the blame for others
C. Look at things from God’s perspective (Gen 45:5-8)
a. God has a purpose for everything (Rom 8:28)
b. Seeing things from God’s perspective prevents bitterness
1. Joseph showed God’s providence 3 times(Gen 45:5,7,8)
2. When we harbor bitterness we think we are hurting the one who hurt us but we are hurting ourselves.
II. HOW TO RECIEVE FORGIVNESS
A. We must except it
a. It causes unneeded guilt(Gen 50:15-17)
b. It also breaks God’s heart (Gen 50:17)
CONCLUSION
Forgivness is somthing every believer must extend and recieve. You may say, "Preacher, you don’t understand the way I’ve been treated by my spouse. I just can’t forgive and forget." God doesn’t expectyou to forget but He does expect you to forgive just like He forgave you. Today our churches are under attack by the devil. He can’t have our souls so he is attacking our families. It’s time we stand up to devil and refuse to destroy our families by divorce. You can forgive if you want to. The question is do you want to.
