Joseph's Healing of Memories (Part 4)

REPLACE THE HURT WITH LOVE.

A most important step Joseph took for his healing was to forgive his brothers involved in the painful memory. He told them not to be distressed and angry with themselves for he had forgiven them (Genesis 45). Showing that he had replaced his wounds with love and forgiveness, Joseph reaasured his brothers, spoke kindly to and provided for them.

Only God can pay the injustice done by someone else. After being deeply hurt and betrayed by a loved one, my natural tendencies were to make her pay back for the wrongdoing. But here's the problem: She can't do it. Only God can. That realization freed me then to make every effort to make my heart clean and turn matters to God.

As Joseph replaced the hurt with love, he was then able to focus on growth and change, not on past wounds. He was then able to focus on possibilities - what he can change rather than what he cannot change. This holds the key to the healing of Joseph's painful memories.

"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32).