Monday, July 27, 2026

Opening Scripture

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Genesis 50:15-21

Opening Prayer

Gracious Heavenly Father, you are holy and exalted! May your kingdom come and your will be done in my life, home, and community just as it is in Heaven. Help me to trust you today to meet all of my needs. Help me to forgive others just as you have forgiven me. Help me to resist temptation and overcome the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Reflection  

Believe it or not, we are finishing up our summer theme of “Making a Difference” this week. We have been exploring the fruit of the Spirit and learning how to be difference makers. Our focal verse has been John 15:8, where Jesus tells his followers, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” I hope you have done that these past two months!

Today, we will look at the ninth and final fruit of the Spirit, identified by Paul in his letter to the Galatians: self-control. Yesterday’s sermon considered the example of Joseph. What a story it is! Here is the short version:

Joseph, Patriarch Jacob’s favored son, was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers. Rising to power in Potiphar’s house, Joseph was falsely imprisoned but later became viceroy by interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams. He then saved Egypt and his own family from a severe famine, ultimately forgiving his brothers for their betrayal.

Actually, the epic narrative of Joseph’s life unfolds across the final chapters of Genesis, spanning numerous key stages.

Born in Jacob’s old age to his favorite wife Rachel, Joseph was his father’s preferred child. This family-dividing “honor” earned Joseph a unique “coat of many colors,” as well as the deep resentment of his older brothers. As a teenager, Joseph’s early dreams of his family bowing down to him made things (not surprisingy) worse.

Eventually, the brothers had enough! When Joseph was seventeen, they plotted to kill him but ultimately threw him into a pit and sold him to traveling Midianite merchants. The brothers took Joseph’s fancy coat, stained it with goat’s blood, and convinced their father he was dead.

When the merchants arrived in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Though he served faithfully and gained greater responsibility, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of attempted assault when he refused her advances. That resulted in Joseph’s imprisonment.

In prison, Joseph accurately interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and baker. The baker was executed, but the cupbearer was set free. Two years later, the cupbearer remembered Joseph, leading Pharaoh to summon Joseph to interpret his own troubling dreams. Joseph correctly predicted seven years of abundance followed by seven years of severe famine, and advised a strategic grain-storage plan.

Impressed by his divine wisdom, Pharaoh appointed the 30-year-old Joseph as the second-most-powerful man in Egypt. He was given ultimate authority, was married to Asenath, and successfully managed the nation’s grain supply during both the surplus and the shortage.

When the famine spread to Canaan, Joseph’s brothers were forced to travel to Egypt to buy food. They did not recognize him, but after a series of tests to gauge their character (and after demanding they bring his younger brother, Benjamin, to him), Joseph revealed his true identity. Instead of seeking revenge, he offered profound forgiveness, recognizing God’s hand in his journey to preserve their family.

Joseph invited his father, Jacob, and the entire Israelite clan (numbering seventy people) to relocate to the fertile region of Goshen, where they were protected from danger and could multiply.

Joseph lived to be 110, enabling him to ensure his family’s protection and provision until he died. At that time, a new Pharaoh arose “who knew not Joseph.” From that family of seventy emerged God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel – as numerous as the stars in the sky, fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham.

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

Despite his family’s dysfunction and some early miscues in fraternal bonding, Joseph demonstrated godly character and remarkable self-control during times of severe testing, betrayal, and sudden wealth.

Joseph displayed supreme self-control when Potiphar’s wife repeatedly pressured him to sleep with her. He refused by citing his loyalty to his master and, more importantly, his devotion to God, asking, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

Whether trapped in a pit by his brothers or forgotten in an Egyptian prison, Joseph never grew bitter or compromised his morals. Instead of rebelling or feeling sorry for himself, he worked diligently, earning the trust of jailers and authority figures.

When elevated to viceroy of Egypt, Joseph did not abuse his sudden status and power for personal retribution or self-indulgence. He remained a disciplined steward, strategically executing a fourteen-year economic plan to save millions of people from starvation.

When his impoverished brothers came to Egypt, Joseph held their lives in his hands. Instead of retaliating for their past cruelty, he mastered his emotions, tested their hearts for true repentance, and ultimately comforted them, declaring that God used their evil intent for a greater good.

The Greek word for self-control (egkrateia) literally means “inner mastery.” For followers of Jesus, self-control denotes the Spirit-enabled regulation of desires, impulses, and habits so that they serve rather than rule the believer.

Egkrateia is not just strong-willed self-discipline, but a grace-driven, divinely empowered ability to recognize and choose the “greater than” in favor of the “less than.” Godly perspective, biblical wisdom, the Spirit’s prompting, and devotion to Jesus – as well as sufficient experience with the negative consequences of poor choices – enable us to better control the old nature and master the inner self.

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13).

How is your self-control?

Are you learning to say “No” to your sinful desires and unproductive impulses?

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!