Dealing With Disdain

“When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.”  Genesis 37:4

Everyone has one—a person in life who is hard to love and easy to loathe.  For ten of Jacob’s sons, that not-so-special somebody was their baby brother, Joseph.  Born to Rachel when Jacob was nearly ninety, Joseph was boldly and brazenly heralded as father’s favorite.  Being “Papa’s Pet” wasn’t his fault, but Joseph did himself no favors by tattling on his brothers’ bad deeds and telling them about his big dreams.  None of this settled well with his siblings and neither did the beautiful robe presented by Jacob only to Joseph. 

“When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him”(Gen 37:4).  Given Jacob’s lopsided love and Joseph’s loose lips, the brothers’ jealousy can be understood, but their actions can never be justified.

One day Jacob sent Joseph to check on the family and the flock, and as soon as his brothers saw him coming, they started scheming.  A suggested murder plot was lessened to simple terror and misery, so they grabbed Joseph, jerked off his special coat, and shoved him down a dry well.  Then they sat down to munch their lunch.

In the distance a trading caravan was making its way through the desert.  “Since we won’t get anything good for killing him, let’s simply sell him,” one suggested.  They pulled Joseph from the pit and began bartering.  He pleaded for his life, but they closed their ears, pocketed the pay, and walked away—slightly richer but so much poorer.

To cover their crime, they slaughtered a goat, spread its blood on Joseph’s coat, and said to Dad, “Look what we found.  Check and see if it belongs to you-know-who.”  In one rash act roused by jealousy, Joseph was gone, Jacob was grieved, the brothers were guilty, and for many years, all suffered severely because of the sin.

Be careful.  Dislike quickly becomes disdain, and soon you will despise.  While you can’t control the actions of others, you do choose your own attitudes.  If you let your feelings determine your follow-through, everyone involved will end up in a painful pit from which escape is never easy. 

So if you can’t stand someone, don’t knock them over.  Kneel down yourself.

God will help you handle your hate before all get hurt.