Today I was reading the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. As the story goes, his brothers are jealous of him and exchange him as a slave. He is taken to Egypt and sold to work for the rest of his sorry life. At this point, he has a choice to make. He can hold a grudge and hate his life; He has every reason to hate his brothers, and every excuse to be angry. On the other hand, he could choose to forgive his brothers and make the most of his situation. He chose the latter.
In my life, I have had to choose between forgiving and holding a grudge many times. Although I haven’t been sold out by my brothers, people I care about have hurt me deeply. I had to learn to forgive my parents, even though they didn’t deserve it. (There were many problems at home, and eventually, my parents divorced.) Because I chose to forgive, I am now able to love again.
The path of forgiveness is hard and long, but very important. I forgive by taking each negative thought captive and turning it into a positive one. For example, when a thought comes, that says ‘I can’t believe [this] happened. How could mum or dad do that?!’ I stop and think. ‘Yes, that bad thing happened, and it shouldn’t have, but I forgive them, and I love them unconditionally because that is how God loves.’
Out Of Darkness 