Joseph's Way

Genesis 37: 26-28

Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. 28So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

Forgiveness is not blind. It's does not happen at the spur of the moment. It's a process. Let us take example and inspiration from Joseph. Why and how did he forgive his brothers?

His brothers had sinned against Joseph and God. But God had a different plan. He wanted to use Joseph for ensuring continuity of his family. Think about this: If Joseph had been left alone to be a shepherd, would he have ever become the Egyptian second in command? Probably not. Would the race have survived? Probably not. But God does not work on probabilities. Thats not his way. 

Joseph forgave his brothers, after their true repentance. The Agape Bible study explains this so well and the following points are taken from here https://www.agapebiblestudy.com/Genesis/Lesson_18.htm

"Joseph put his brothers through three tests -

"The first test was the brothers' three-day imprisonment which was intended to cause them to come to terms with their sin against him.

The second was a test of their willingness to rescue their brother Simeon by bringing their brother Benjamin to Egypt and retuning the money Joseph put in the sacks of their pack animals.

The third was a test of their willingness to sacrifice their freedom for the life of their youngest brother, Benjamin".

Only after these were successfully completed, did real forgiveness set in because Joseph was sure that true repentance had set in.

That was Josephs way. 

Forgiveness, while being at the core of the Christian faith, is not to be given away like bread. It is to be nurtured so that all ill feeling is got rid of completely, from both sides. 

Evil will happen. But if we look, and ask for Gods help, we can find good in evil. And when we do that, we can either continue to hate the perpetuator of that evil or choose to find the good, praise God and forgive, after we are sure that there is true repentance and sorrow. If we don't find repentance, it is still possible not to hate since we derived good from their evil act.