Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, September 28, 2026
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Forgiveness is a powerful thing. As human beings we’re just flawed. No two ways around it. We do things we’re not proud of sometimes. We fall short. Perfectionism is something I’ve struggled with my whole life. No one is harder on me than I am on myself. One of the greatest gifts of working a 12-Step Recovery program for me has been coming to a place where I honestly believe I can be forgiven for my imperfections. For whatever reason I did not really believe that was true until I was 33 years old and eyeballs deep in making my amends to those I’d harmed. I never threw my little brother in a pit and sold him into slavery, of course (though there were moments in our childhood… Ha!) But in my adolescence, young adulthood, and twelve years of marriage at that point, I had done and said things that were genuinely hurtful to others. And it wasn’t about justifying it to the person I made amends to. It was about being completely honest about my part, taking them out of it completely, owning my own stuff, and being open to their forgiveness if they cared to offer it, but not expecting it as a foregone conclusion. That last part was the scariest, but the good news is that I knew by then that as far as God was concerned, I was forgiven. I was human. I was doing my best now to not repeat past mistakes. And when the forgiveness did come (which, thankfully, it did from everyone) it was so healing for both parties involved. Restorative. Transformative. Joseph was in tears when he proclaimed his forgiveness to his brothers, overcome by their vulnerability, ready to forge a new relationship with his long-lost family. God shows up when we do.
What aspect of my humanness do I need to forgive myself for today?
