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Genesis 37-50 – The Temptations of Dysfunctional Families #13
Being damaged by the actions of others can lead us to at least one more temptation – being defined by our pain, what others have done to us. Our total identity becomes what happened to us. We breathe our ache like we breathe air. We wear our past like we wear our favorite pair of pants. We don’t want to totally heal, because then we might not know we are. While healing involves talking, there comes a time when we don’t need to continually talk about our pain. Talking only becomes necessary to help others heal. We get past the pain and are defined by what Christ has done for us. When Joseph named his firstborn son, we see his willingness to forget his past. He names his first son Manasseh which means, “God has made me forget all my hardship in my father’s house.” His second son is named Ephraim, meaning, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Gen 41.50-52). Joseph is willing to live in the present, to move past the past.
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