TO TELL THE TRUTH
Genesis 37:2
"This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father."
The story of Joseph skips to his teenage years. He was working in the family business of raising sheep, along with some of his step-brothers. Two of these brothers, Dan and Naphtali, were sons of Rachel's maid, Bilhah. The other two, Gad and Asher, were sons of Leah's maid, Zilpah. These brothers were the result of the jealousy between Rachel and Leah (see Genesis 30:1-13 and 35:25-26). So there was some bad blood in the family and it affected the children. Apparently, the step-brothers were not doing a very good job at tending the flock, and Joseph told his father, Jacob. Scripture does not tell us of Joseph's motives, whether it was from spite because they were mistreating him, or if it was his sense of integrity that could not abide sloppy work. In any case, it did not help his relationship with his brothers. It is an age-old job-related question: Do I rat on my fellow-workers who are slack in the fulfillment of their duties? Or do I just swallow it in order to keep peace? There is no easy answer, but one thing is sure: the motive must be right. If I do report to the boss a co-worker's lack of diligence, I need to be prepared for the fall-out. WWJD?
TODAY'S PRINCIPLE: Integrity sometimes necessitates a bad report of co-workers, but it requires wisdom.
[end]
Have a discerning day. Love you.
Genesis 37:2
"This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father."
The story of Joseph skips to his teenage years. He was working in the family business of raising sheep, along with some of his step-brothers. Two of these brothers, Dan and Naphtali, were sons of Rachel's maid, Bilhah. The other two, Gad and Asher, were sons of Leah's maid, Zilpah. These brothers were the result of the jealousy between Rachel and Leah (see Genesis 30:1-13 and 35:25-26). So there was some bad blood in the family and it affected the children. Apparently, the step-brothers were not doing a very good job at tending the flock, and Joseph told his father, Jacob. Scripture does not tell us of Joseph's motives, whether it was from spite because they were mistreating him, or if it was his sense of integrity that could not abide sloppy work. In any case, it did not help his relationship with his brothers. It is an age-old job-related question: Do I rat on my fellow-workers who are slack in the fulfillment of their duties? Or do I just swallow it in order to keep peace? There is no easy answer, but one thing is sure: the motive must be right. If I do report to the boss a co-worker's lack of diligence, I need to be prepared for the fall-out. WWJD?
TODAY'S PRINCIPLE: Integrity sometimes necessitates a bad report of co-workers, but it requires wisdom.
[end]
Have a discerning day. Love you.
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