Text: Genesis 45:1-15

Topic: How to respond to unjust treatment

Introduction:

• Synopsis of the patriarch, Joseph's life.
• Various passages in Genesis.
• Big Idea: We've all been mistreated at sometime in our lives. How should we respond?

Recognize how God has adapted the situation for good.

• ...causing all things to work together for good, Romans 8:28.
• Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing. (Nehemiah 13:2)

Release the Offender.

• When you release the offender, you release yourself.
• Archibald Hart said, "Forgiveness is relinquishing my rights to hurt back."

Repay Them With Kindness.

• Jesus leads by his own example.

Re-invent the Relationship.

• Don't resume the relationship, reinvent it.
• Make it the way it should have been all along, with the proper boundaries and the proper understanding of each other.

Conclusion:

• Recognize God's hand in your life, and trust him to turn the curse into a blessing; Release the offender, because in doing so you release yourself; Repay them with kindness when the opportunity presents itself; and Re-invent the relationship to make it what it should have been all along.