Are there people in your family, in your contacts, to whom you don’t address a word? Who don’t you talk to for some reason? And when you speak, are they harsh words or as little as possible? Pay attention to this verse: “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him” (Genesis 37:4).

You probably know the story of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers and went from a slave to the governor of Egypt. It started with Jacob’s preference for Joseph, but he had 12 children. He saw his father make a mistake because Isaac preferred Jacob’s brother, Esau. Still, unfortunately, Jacob did not learn from his father’s mistakes. The brothers also made a mistake. They could seek out a better way, but they preferred hatred and revenge. Joseph didn’t help either because he wasn’t wise. How many times do we make mistakes by saying what we shouldn’t?

It was harsh and aggressive whenever the brothers exchanged a word with Joseph. So you can imagine the environment that had been created between them. This is one of the great tragedies that can happen: when you don’t talk to a member of your own family. And worse: sometimes, you live under the same roof with a total indifference, which is cruel. I speak to you that, maybe, you are living in this situation, saying: “I don’t talk to this person. So-and-so, for me, died.” Pay attention: what have you achieved with this attitude? Stop and think about this question. I can’t think of a positive side to this. I can only think of the bad things that you have accumulated. For example, pride, nourishing bad memory (making an effort for why you treat the person like this), grudges, stubbornness, and a bad attitude between you. If the person comes to ask you for forgiveness because you are mistreating them, does this request for forgiveness have any value? There’s no gain in that. You’re losing, and the other person too.

So, you need to use intelligence as Joseph did. When Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt in search of food, they never imagined that Joseph was the governor. Joseph could have used the authority to take revenge on his brothers. But what did he do? He said: “No, my brothers. There’s nothing between us. I forgive you. On the contrary, I see that the evil that you tried against me, God used it for good.”
Joseph managed to see in the wickedness of his brothers the goodness of God. If you trust God, even evil, He can use it for your own good. But you have to release forgiveness. Have the intelligence to overcome this and believe that God will use all this for your good.

Suppose you have a person in your house who doesn’t talk to you. In that case, your question has to be: “Have I done everything possible to open the doors for the person to talk to me? Have I been treating this person with respect and civility?
Have I done my part?”
(Do not humiliate yourself, or keep crawling at the person’s feet, but clear the way).
If you’ve already done that, don’t carry the guilt of why they don’t talk to you. If you owe a request for forgiveness, ask for forgiveness. Give them everything you owe them, nothing more and nothing less. The rest, let God do as He did for Joseph and his brothers.

Reflect on the message in the video above.