Are You a Peacemaker?

Are You a Peacemaker?

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"Blessed are the peacemakers, 

for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9 NRSV)

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Jesus came as "the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6-7) and gave the ultimate sacrifice to bring peace between God and humanity (Ephesians 2:14-18; Colossians 1:20). God calls his children to be peacemakers. This involves action, not just passive compliance. Peacemakers do more than just live peaceful lives; they actively seek to "make peace," to cause reconciliation, to end bitterness and strife. This peace is not appeasement but dealing with and solving problems to maintain peace. Arrogant, selfish people do not concern themselves with peacemaking. Peacemakers will be called children of God because they reflect their Father's character. This has a royal sense—they will share the glories of the Messiah's kingdom. 

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LIFE APPLICATION: MAKING PEACE

How do you resolve conflict? Most people use different means for different settings.

Making peace with your children includes defining the boundaries between right and wrong, enforcing discipline, and affirming each child with love and affection.

Making peace with friends includes broadening your mind to include the possibility that someone else's ideas make sense. It means accepting your friend's explanation at face value and applying the least hurtful meaning to the offensive words you heard. It means taking a step toward trust, away from anger, and onto an unmarked playing field called vulnerability. That's the risky price of friendship.

Making peace with your spouse can be the most difficult of all. Sometimes it requires outside help, often a lot of listening, mutual confession, and rebuilding of love that's been burned. Too often today, the alternative is to quit.

Make peace your aim. Not sloppy acquiescence—the Milque-toast peace of people without backbone or principle. But strong peace—hard-won, committed to the other, centered on God, ready for the wear and tear that another day may bring.

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Bruce B. Barton et al., Life Application Bible Commentary – Matthew, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 79-80.

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