Forgiveness (version 1.0)

One of the most important parts of this study is Joseph's forgiving of his brethren. It was what Lemuel R. Pace used as the catalyst to my studying. This is attempt number one.

When I think of how Joseph spoke about the way his brethren had treated him as the will of the Lord I always think of how crazy that sounds. But today in New Testament I thought of a connection. This is like when Christ on the cross begged the Father to forgive his accusers and executors and said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," (Luke 23:29) Did they know what they did? I contend they did not. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul said, "for now we see through a glass, darkly" (1 Cor 13:12) referring to our understanding of charity and others. Without the pure love of Christ we don't see others in the proper context. We only think of self and don't really comprehend the actions and feelings of those around us.
Joseph's brethren were angry and jealous. We know from a letter to the Corinthians that charity "envieth not...seeketh not her own..." (1 Cor 13:4,5) so they didn't have charity and that means they didn't see Joseph in the right light. So their actions were not with full understanding.
What does this mean for us today? Elder Jeffrey R Holland tells us that "true charity, the absolutely pure, perfect love of Christ, has really been known only once in this world - in the form of Christ Himself, the living Son of the living God," (BYU Speeches of the Year, Feb 2000). Therefore we cannot honestly say that anyone has the proper perspective on anyone else. So when others do us harm we must step back and remember to, "forgive them, for they know not what they do."