Genesis 39:6-10
“Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. ‘Come and sleep with me,’ she demanded. But Joseph refused. ‘Look,’ he told her, ‘my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.’ She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible.”
Joseph had a reason to be resilient and we see his reason right here in these verses. It would be a great sin against God for Joseph to give in; to give in to the advances of Potiphar’s wife or to the circumstances of being a slave. Joseph wasn’t worried about his own temporary pleasure, he was worried about God’s glory and his relationship with Him – that’s what kept him resilient.
Respond in Prayer
Take a few minutes with God, identifying what the ‘why’ is for everything you do. Like Joseph, does your relationship with God matter so much to you that you aren’t willing to weaken it? Confess to Him now anything you are more faithful to than God and ask for His help in making Him the priority in your heart above all else! He is jealous for you and wants to help you.
For Families with Kids at Home
What struggles and temptations are you kids facing right now? What kinds of things do you think they’ll be susceptible to in the future? Spend some time praying for them and ask God to give them the courage and faithfulness to stand against temptation, and for a broken and repentant heart when they sin.