Matthew 5:9 “Blessed (enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous – with life – joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!”
Many Americans have grown up idolizing men of action – the Rambos, the John Waynes, men who never backed down from a fight, no matter what. No matter which country you visit, you will find that there are similar warrior traditions. And yes, there are times when you need to take a stand against evil and wrong – doing. We should have the courage of our convictions. But many times, we use these mental images as an excuse to take offense needlessly or to throw our weight around as a matter of course. Picking unnecessary fights is tiring for the fighter and equally tiring for those around him/her. Proverbs 26:17 says, ”He who, passing by, stops to meddle with strife that is none of his business is like one who takes a (passing) dog by the ears.” (NKJV)
Nobody in his right mind would try to grab a strange dog by the ears! You could get bitten and get rabies and die. But sometimes we are willing to do something just as stupid, getting involved in quarrels that are none of our business. Why are we so willing to embroil ourselves in conflict but so unwilling to make peace? The video that accompanies this devotional features Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Leymah Gbowee, and Mother Teresa. Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women’s nonviolent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. In 2011 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Do peacemakers have an easy time of it? Are you kidding! Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi were murdered. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for many years. Leymah Gbowee and her followers faced public ridicule and all kinds of problems. But all of these people were faithful to the idea of creating and MAINTAINING peace.
Maintaining peace is even trickier than making peace in the first place. Anyone who has tried to settle a long – standing family conflict can testify that just when you think everything is going to be fine, someone suddenly remembers an old hurt, and the whole mess begins all over again! So why even try in the first place?
- We all need peace. Development, whether personal, institutional, or national, requires peace.
- Our bodies and our hearts were not made for continuous stress. After awhile your adrenal glands become tired of continually pumping out adrenaline. Stress from unresolved conflict takes its toll on our hearts, our brains, our kidneys, and on every other part of our body.
- Continual stress destroys families. We carry our fights home with us and then fight with spouses and children.
- God made us to live in peace with one another. If we want to be called the children of God, we must make peace with one another.
- Being a man or woman of peace allows you to become close to God. As long as you are hugging your hurts and offenses in your heart, you are making it impossible for the Holy Spirit to heal you. You are literally blocking God from moving in your life as long as you refuse to live in peace with your neighbor.
- Being a man or woman of peace requires forgiving those who have hurt you. Note: forgiving is not the same as trusting. You may need to distance yourself or just “hold your peace.” But forgiveness is always possible. Remember that the battle is not against people, but against Satan.
James 3:18 states “And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” (New Living Translation) Today, choose peace.
PRAYER: Father, today, help us to be people of peace. Help us to seek your peace and to pursue it. Help us to forgive those who have hurt or offended us and to plant seeds of peace, so that we will reap harvests of righteousness. In the matchless Name of Jesus. Amen.
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