Genesis. 42:8-9 “8 But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him. 9 Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, ‘You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.’”

I am always amazed when I read this story about the forgiveness in Joseph. If that had been me, I would have thrown them all in prison and thrown away the key. Those worthless brothers had decided to kill him and then sold him. Now I have heard of sibling rivalries, but come on.

Here in this passage it says he recognized them and remembered the dreams he had as a boy. All these years Joseph was probably wondering why God had allowed him to come to Egypt as a slave, go through what he did and now be the supreme ruler (besides Pharaoh) over all of Egypt.

Now his brothers have arrived and, as customary, were bowing before him, just as his dream of so many years ago. He could have said right then, “Aha, look at yourselves. I told you this would happen.” But he didn’t. He restrained himself and thanked God for allowing him to see them again.

One great lesson we can teach our children from this passage is that we should never think we are better than others. Even when we are right and they are wrong, we need to teach them to be merciful and forgiving. That is a hard lesson to learn, but we can help our children develop this wonderful skill. They learn by watching us.

How about you? Do you hold grudges? Do you refuse to forget a wrong against you? Let it go. Perhaps the Lord has allowed that wrong for the benefit of the offender down the road. You never know.