Giving up our rights is possibly one of the hardest things we can do. It is not something we like to pray about or celebrate, but it is one of the ways of success in the Kingdom of God!
3. Giving up our rights to fulfill God’s purpose
We read about Joseph’s life in Genesis 37 & 38-45. Joseph was a young man who was favored by his father. This put him at odds with his brothers. They were jealous of him and did not want to see him as the favorite of their father. Subsequently, they tried to get rid of him by selling him to the Egyptians. They also lied to their father about Joseph being killed, which they really wished to happen to their brother after all.
Joseph had tough years serving as a slave in Egypt. He was accused falsely for something he hadn’t done. He was put in prison for a couple of years. Additionally, he missed years of being away from his father the one who loved him the most! He had the right to have enjoyed the love of his father rather than being fatherless in a foreign land. He had the right to enjoy his father’s wealth rather than being a slave to an Egyptian ruler. However, none of these adverse circumstances and people changed Joseph!
When the opportunity came that Joseph could have killed every one of his brothers, he not only did not lay a hand on them, but he also blessed them. He was willing to let go of his rights as a son and as a brother and forgive those who had severely trespassed against him. Letting go of his rights did not happen on the day he met his brothers. Joseph must have forgiven and let go throughout the years he was away otherwise anger and resentment could have made him a bitter and an angry person.
Forgiveness is the action of letting go of a grudge against someone who has either taken something away from us or has violated our lives. It is the ultimate of letting go of our rights! It cannot happen without the grace of God giving us the ability to do it. If we don’t let go of our rights, we can grow in bitterness and resentment, and ruin more relationships in the present and the future.
Jesus is our ultimate example of giving up his rights and being willing to die for our sins. If he hadn’t, we would not have had salvation. He chose to accept a punishment that he didn’t deserve in order to purchase salvation for us.
Joseph’s statement to his brothers is a key verse that gives us the motivation and the hope to let go of our rights:
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:20
Did he understand the purpose of his pain all those years? Did he know that someday God was going to use him to feed and save his family? Probably not. What kept him from growing bitter was his trust in God and His sovereignty. What his brothers did was absolutely dark and egregious, but it didn’t mean that God wasn’t with him and couldn’t work on his behalf.
God’s purpose was fulfilled in the life of Joseph as well as the Israelites because Joseph was willing to give up his rights and allow God to work out his perfect plan!
What is God asking you to give up your rights to? Is it something you deserved or earned? Is it a relationship with strings attached? Is it a grudge that is holding you in its grip? Letting go is never easy, but it’s powerfully effective in God’s Kingdom!
