Bible in 90, Day 69: Blessed are the peacemakers

Matthew 5-15

image courtesy of Sheila at stock.xchng

The other day, my oldest son had a friend snatch a toy from him.  He was quite upset and came running to me.  I asked if he could let the other boy have a turn with the toy.  He reluctantly agreed.  Later, I told him I was proud of his handling that so well and sharing.  He told me that after I had talked with him, he had gone to the other boy and told him he shouldn’t snatch toys.  The other boy said, “Oh, can I play with it for a while?” and Corbin said, “Yeah.”  I told my son I was proud of him for being a peacemaker.

Jesus said at the beginning of His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-8), “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”  The gospel is all about peacemaking.  Ultimately, it is about Jesus making peace between God and mankind.  If we fail to understand this, we will never be able to be peacemakers.  When we refuse to make peace and be reconciled to others, we are showing we don’t understand the gospel.

God does not want us to be peace breakers – creating conflict whenever we can.  When we attack in response to sin, whether it be slander, or even violence, we are breaking peace.  We are going against God’s demands that we pray for our enemies, and bless those who curse us.

God does not want us to be peace fakers* – avoiding conflict at all costs in the name of peace.  When we dodge problems, or pretend there is nothing wrong, we are faking peace.  We are lying to ourselves, to the other person involved, and to God.  We are still failing to pursue peace because we are not acknowledging the problem.  Pursuing peace must be active, not passive (Ephesians 4:2).

God wants us to be peacemakers.  This means when we are sinned against, we recognize the sin, call it sin, and confront the one who sinned against us in love.  We do not attack, but we do not hide either.  We seek peace, and pursue it, making every effort to maintain unity.  It also means that when we sin against someone, we recognize our sin, call it sin, and ask forgiveness from the one we’ve sinned against.

Let’s be peacemakers.  Jesus promises that we will be blessed for it.  When we pursue peace, making every effort to maintain unity, even if it costs us something, we are showing that we are God’s children.  We look at lot like Him when we make peace with others.

* the terms peace fakers and peace breakers are not mine, they originate with Ken Sande & Peacemaker Ministries

originally at Words of Reason