Whose Court is the Ball in?

And it came about at that time, that Judah departed from his brothers (Genesis 38:1)

Judah chose to depart from his father and family shortly after having sold his brother Joseph into slavery. Judah was probably trying to rationalize his sin to himself and found it too hard on his conscience to live close to his grieving father. He stayed away for decades. Many of us have thoughts, people or circumstances that we want to keep at a distance because we don’t want to confront our failures or sin.

And Judah said, "She is more righteous than I…” (Gen 38:26)

Finally, Judah begins to admit to himself and others that he has sinned. This step in the right direction changed his attitude toward his family because he returned and was with his brothers when they went down to Egypt and were reunited with Joseph. His heart was changed to such a degree that he was prepared to and offered to take Benjamin’s place as a slave in Egypt. Because of God’s work and Judah’s changed attitude, Judah became the Father of the line from which the Christ would be born.

I sometimes have gotten angry and yelled or said things I shouldn’t have. When this has happened, I’m always tempted to think I was right. I say to myself that the offense justified my reaction. I’m trying to be righteous in my own eyes. But the times when I’ve admitted my failure and asked for forgiveness have been the times when healing of relationships has been made possible. When we stop rationalizing our sin to ourselves and begin to admit our failures, then wonderful things begin to happen. "I'll change when they admit how wrong they are." By saying this, we give someone else power over our life. Even if we think that another person is more to blame, we can and must admit our own failures. Wonderful things can then happen because Jesus begins to be manifest as we humble ourselves. His Spirit is poured out on the humble and the contrite. A humble, repentant attitude is the doorway to healing and restoration of relationships. Through the grace of God, we personally have the power to do this. In reality, the ball is in our court.

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