The Word for Today

by Bob and Debby Gass

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‘Don’t be angry with yourselves.’ Genesis 45:5 TLB

Joseph told his brothers, ‘Don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me…God has sent me here to keep you and your families alive, so that you will become a great nation.’ (Genesis 45:5–7 TLB) When are we most likely to lay a guilt trip on others? When we’ve forgotten the grace we ourselves received from God. A right perspective on God’s providence helps us realise that ‘for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those… called according to His purpose.’ (Romans 8:28 ESV) Often we forget the grace and forgiveness God extends to us, expecting us to forgive others in turn! Paul wrote, ‘I…wasted [the Church].’ (Galatians 1:13 KJV) He uses a mafia term for killing people. Now he goes back to those same towns and preaches, and who’s in the audience? The widows and orphans! If Paul hadn’t learned to receive God’s grace he could never have fulfilled God’s will. Some ancient societies punished murderers by strapping the victim to their back. Paul may have had this in mind when he wrote, ‘Who will deliver me from this body of death?’ (Romans 7:24 NKJV) Nothing is heavier than unresolved guilt. It will: (1) Drag you down. (2) Cause you to leave a bad taste wherever you go. Even your friends will become exhausted and say, ‘Get over it.’ (3) Destroy your relationships. Who wants to be around someone who’s obsessed with a corpse? You’d only be using the new relationship to numb the pain of the old one. (4) Destroy your health, because you aren’t built to carry resentment. Cut it loose! Somebody said, ‘Everyone should have a special cemetery lot in which to bury the faults of friends and loved ones.’ Grieve if you need to—then bury it and move on!

SoulFood: Rom 9:17–11:36, John 10:1–10, Ps 20, Prov 30:1–4

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2024

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