Genesis 20:17 · World English Bible
Genesis 20:17 Meaning Abraham Prayed to God
Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.
What does Genesis 20:17 mean?
The correction is one turning of the mind toward love, and when it is chosen, what had been shut fast opens. Healing spreads from the one who prayed to the very one who wronged him and outward to the whole household, and the barren bring forth, for guilt was the only thing that had closed the way.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Genesis 20:17 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
The correction is one turning of the mind toward love, and when it is chosen, what had been shut fast opens. Healing spreads from the one who prayed to the very one who wronged him and outward to the whole household, and the barren bring forth, for guilt was the only thing that had closed the way. Forgiveness asked nothing of anyone's body; it changed the mind that looked, and life resumed where blame had stopped it.
A mind that releases its grievance finds the release was never private. To pray for the one who took from you and see him healed is to learn that condemnation alone kept everything sterile. Let it go, and what was closed brings forth again.
Abimelech: the one who seemed to wrong the mind, now made whole by being forgiven rather than accused. Wife and maidservants: the household of the self, the affections and lesser powers of the mind, opened to life once guilt is lifted. Children: the fruit that a forgiven mind brings forth, the increase that condemnation had held back.
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Live Genesis 20:17 today
- Name the person you are quietly keeping a tally on. Not to excuse them, just decide once that you are done collecting evidence, and let the tally go.
- Do one small good thing today for someone you have a grievance against. Pass on the praise you heard about them, answer their message quickly, hold the door. They never need to know why.
- When the old scene replays, in traffic, in the shower, at 11pm with your phone in your hand, stop narrating it and wish them well instead, even if you only half mean it. Do it every time it comes back.
What in my life has been stuck still because I would not let someone off the hook?
The same truth in other traditions
Buddhism · Metta practice
Goodwill is sent first to yourself, then outward, and the one who hurt you is included on purpose. The practice frees the one who practices before it reaches anyone else.
Sufism · Rumi
The wound is where the light gets in, and the one who wounded you stands in that same light. Blame seals it over; letting go leaves it open.
Taoism · Zhuangzi
No one stays angry at an empty boat that drifts into theirs. Empty yourself of the offended one and there is nobody left for the collision to happen to.
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