General News
31 August, 2025
In good faith
FREE TO READ: A few weeks ago, I wrote about the subject of forgiveness. I wrote about what forgiveness was, why it was so important and how unforgiveness could act as poison in one's own life.
One of the things mentioned at that time, albeit briefly, was that while there was a biblical mandate to forgive others, this did not imply that there was an obligation to restore relationships.
The Bible nowhere teaches that we are to re-enter into situations of abuse, danger or neglect.
This brings us to the other side of the subject of forgiveness, that is repentance.
According to the Cambridge dictionary online, repentance is “the fact of showing that you are very sorry for something bad you have done in the past and wish that you had not done it.”
But there is much more to it than that.
In the New Testament, the Greek word for repentance is “metanoia,” which means “to change the mind.” It means that not only are you sorry for what has happened, but also that you are determined to change your ways and never again repeat what has happened.
This is what is needed before the restoration of relationship can take place.
This is best illustrated in the Bible by again considering the story of Joseph. Recall that in the book of Genesis we read of how Joseph's brothers, because they were envious of him, captured him and sold him into slavery in Egypt. Some years later, there was a famine in the land and his brothers were compelled to travel to Egypt to buy food.
It was there that they encountered Joseph who, through the providence of God, had been elevated to a very high-ranking position.
We read in Genesis 42 to 44 how the brothers approached Joseph without recognising him and asked to purchase food.
Instead of extracting vengeance, Joseph desired reconciliation with his family, but before this could happen, he had to be certain that they had truly repented of what they had done, so he laid a trap for them. He tricked them into believing that Benjamin, the youngest brother, had stolen a valuable silver cup from his dinner table.
He then sent his soldiers to arrest them and bring them back to him to see how they would respond. Would they surrender Benjamin into slavery as well, or had they repented, and would they seek to
protect him?
We read in Genesis 44:16, “Judah said … God has found out the iniquity of His servants …” Judah, the oldest brother, would have known fully well that Benjamin was innocent since the brothers were together the whole time.
The only way this statement can be understood is concerning the initial sin of selling Joseph into slavery. In a speech to Joseph, he went on to say, “… let me be a slave to you and let the lad go back to his family.”
In offering to take the penalty for this perceived crime upon himself, Judah demonstrated that they had truly repented of the evil that they had previously committed and had changed their ways.
Only upon demonstrating this could the relationship then be restored.
This story also reminds us very much of our relationship with Jesus.
Jesus truly desires that the relationship between us and Him be restored to the way that was originally intended before sin came into the world.
However, for that to happen, there must be true repentance as we turn to Him.
By David Young