December 10

Day 10 | Joseph

Scripture: Genesis 37:1-36; 50:15-21

Joseph was loved very much by his father, Israel (Jacob) - maybe too much. Joseph’s brothers hated him because they were jealous of their father’s special love for Joseph.

They sold him to a man who made him a servant and even put him in prison. However, God had given Joseph a special gift of understanding dreams, and Joseph was able to use this special gift to help Pharaoh.

Pharaoh rewarded Joseph by giving him a very important job. While Joseph was doing his job, he again met his brothers, who did not recognize him. Instead of revenge, Joseph chose to forgive and help them. He knew God had been with him through everything, and that God was using this hardship in Joseph’s life to do good things.

Talk About:
• How can God use your hard times or relationships to do good things?
• Who do you need to forgive?

Prayer: God of forgiveness, help us to be forgiving even when it is hard to do.

Additional Scriptures:
Romans 8:28
Acts 3:13-15

Age-Focused Discussion

Preschool
• Who was Joseph’s father, and how many brothers did Joseph have?
• Why were Joseph’s brothers jealous of him?
• What happened to Joseph after he was sold into slavery?

Elementary
• How do you think Joseph felt when his brothers betrayed him?
• What do you think helped Joseph stay faithful to God, even when bad things happened?
• Have you ever felt jealous of someone, like Joseph’s brothers did? What happened?
• Have you ever had to forgive someone who hurt you? How did that feel?

Middle and High School
• Why do you think Joseph chose to forgive his brothers instead of getting revenge?
• Joseph’s story shows that God can turn hard times into something good. Can you think of a time in your life when something hard turned out to be a blessing?

Gospel Conversation
Joseph chose forgiveness over revenge. He saw that God used everything, even the bad parts of his life, to bring about something good and to save many people. When Jesus came to earth, some people hated Him and wanted to hurt Him. They arrested Him, lied about Him, and even killed Him on a cross. It looked like the worst thing ever, but what did God do? He turned it into something good! God used what people meant for harm to bring about salvation for the whole world.