But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it

- from Genesis 4:7

In today’s passage, Cain and his brother Abel both offered sacrifices to the Lord. The Lord approved of Abel’s sacrifice but didn’t approve of Cain’s. Cain spun into a spiral of anger, shame and jealousy. Eventually, he killed his brother.

What had Abel done to Cain? As far as we know: nothing. How had Abel sinned against Cain? As far as we know: he hadn’t. And, yet, Cain’s rage spilled over into murder.

What would happen if we broaden our definition of forgiveness? Forgiveness isn’t just something we offer to people who have wronged us. It’s also for people who have unintentionally caused us pain.

There are people out there who get the job or promotion that we also applied for, the (seemingly) perfect family we wished for, the neighborhood or car or vacation that we can’t quite afford. These people haven’t sinned against us, but these people stir in us anger, shame and jealousy—much the same as when people deliberately sin against us. And forgiveness is one of the off-ramps God offers to keep from spiraling into dark and bitter emotional places.

In today’s passage, God was not impossible to please and he wasn’t playing favorites. God wanted to connect with each of these brothers and to see them connect in healthy and loving ways with each other. In order for this to happen, Cain would have had to “forgive” his brother and disconnect from the anger, shame and jealousy.

Think about this broader category of forgiveness. Who do you need to forgive today?