God created family as a loving support system in faith and in all areas of life. It is, and we thank God he gave us family as a blessing all the way back to perfection of the Garden. In the imperfect world of sin we now inhabit, however, that blessing can be twisted into what it was not intended to be. We can even experience the unfortunate truth of the saying that those who are closest to us can be the ones who hurt us the most.

The early patriarchs of the faith had their share of family conflict. There were land disputes between Abraham and his nephew Lot. The half-brothers Isaac and Ishmael were the subject of controversy as to which one was the heir of the promise. Jacob and Esau famously fought for their father’s blessing, and were separated for about 20 years. Some of the same continued in the generation of Joseph and his brothers.

It’s true that Jacob, Joseph’s father, favored him over his other sons, which was not a wise . . . . parenting strategy. It led to jealousy and anger at the young Joseph.

But it certainly did not justify the actions of Joseph’s brothers. They allowed their anger to reach a boiling point. One day they were out alone in the fields with Joseph and decided it was time to end it all. The first suggestion was to kill him and pretend it had been a wild animal. The more “reasonable” brother, Reuben, finally convinced them to sell Joseph as a slave. What a terrible thing to do to their own flesh and blood, especially with Joseph being at the tender age of around 17! Joseph was off on his own in the foreign land of Egypt, as a slave, with no idea how his life would go.

By God’s grace Joseph did not let anger or revenge become his driving emotion. He knew and believed the Lord was with him in all things and faithful to his promises (Genesis 39:2). He still saw God’s purpose in his life. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20) He realized in faith that ultimately God was the judge. Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? (Genesis 50:19)

God’s mercy to him brought about a forgiving reunion and reconciliation some 13 years later. 14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him. (Genesis 45:14-15)

None of our family challenges take away from the wonderful blessing of family life under the Lord. It does point us to the ongoing need for forgiveness, whatever the situation, just as God gives us ongoing forgiveness in Jesus Christ, our Savior. There’s no better place to practice this than in family.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)