“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Matthew 5:9 NIV
I have had something lying heavily on my heart. There is so much strife in our world right now. It seems everyone is at each other’s throats. When we should be pulling together to face our significant challenges, we are pulling apart.
There is strife in marriages. There is strife in families. There is strife between citizens. There is strife between races. My doctor just shared how shocked he is at how nasty some of his patients have become with him. Strife between patients and doctors! Strife between workers and management. There is even strife in our churches. People of faith called to be unified in Christ are pulling apart over politics, vaccines, and opinions on other social matters.
Strife!
The antidote to strife is peace. The Greek word for peace in the New Testament means more than the absence of fighting. εἰρήνη (eirēnē) has its root in the word “to join.” Peace means to bring together. To make whole. To be healthy. This undoubtedly has its origins in the Hebrew word שָׁלוֹם (šålom, or shalom), which brings the same depth of meaning. Jesus said that in his kingdom, peacemakers are blessed. Peacemakers will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).
If you are a Jesus follower, a Christian, you are called to be a peacemaker. Not a peacekeeper. A peacekeeper does whatever he can to keep everyone happy. A peacekeeper just does not want anyone to be upset. But a peacemaker is someone who might say weighty, difficult things to bring about the changes needed to bring peace.
We need to be peacemakers. In this world of strife, more than ever, the children of God need to be bringing peace. Peace to broken lives. Peace to broken marriages. Peace to broken families. Peace to broken relationships.
So how do we do that? Here are some things from scripture that I have found that show the way.
Peace comes from being right with God and living right with God by his Holy Spirit.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul describes two kinds of people in explaining the good news that God has made a way for us to be right with Him through faith in Jesus. For instance, in Galatians 5:19, he says that the person who does not live right with God can be identified by his deeds.
“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” – Galatians 5:19–21 NASB
Notice those words I have underlined. All descriptions of strife, division, things that pull us apart. Of the 15 things Paul says are characteristics of not living right with God, 8 are things that do not bring peace between people.
Then Paul describes what the fruit of living right for God through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit looks like with these words:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” – Galatians 5:22-26 NASB
Peace is a fruit of the Spirit. It is a result of being at peace with God through faith in Jesus. It is also a characteristic of the person who lives by the Spirit. The person who submits daily to the leadership of Jesus. The person who learns his Word to live by his Will. Keeping in step with the Spirit, as Pauls says, means being a peacemaker.
Being a peacemaker requires wisdom. The wisdom that only God can provide.
James makes a direct connection between godly wisdom and peace. He says:
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” – James 3:17-18 NIV
This is the same wisdom that he says we are to ask for in faith. What is wisdom? Wisdom means skill. It is the ability to apply the truth to the complexities of life to bring good results. It is doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, for the right results. Practically speaking, when dealing with strife, the challenge is navigating through difficult, complex, and emotional situations. When we get emotional, we don’t think rationally. When we get emotional, we tend not to be open to listening. To be a peacemaker means being about to navigate all those high emotions and hurts and complexities in a way that will bring help, healing, and happiness.
Being a peacemaker requires making a courageous commitment.
Paul encourages members of the church to give themselves to being peacemakers.
“Let us, therefore, make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” – Romans 14:19 NIV
“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace…” – Ephesians 4:3 NIV
How much effort are you giving to being a peacemaker in all the things you work at in your walk with Christ? Is being a peacemaker one of your daily faith goals? Is it a regular request in your prayers? How much time, energy, and resources do you give to being a peacemaker?
Paul says that being a peacemaker needs to be one of the top things we focus on as Jesus followers. It needs to be one of the top things we do as members of his church. This world of strife needs peacemakers. It is how the light of Jesus can shine brightly in this ever-darkening world. Be a peacemaker.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Matthew 5:9 NIV
Thank you so much for sharing this. I needed to hear this today. Being a peacemaker is hard, but much needed. The strife we are experiencing breaks my heart. I’m afraid I’ve been a peacekeeper too many times. Now, I pray God helps me to be a peacemaker. Blessings!
Since the last Sunday in August I have been doing on line services, but last Sunday 10/17 and this past Sunday, thanks to God I was able to be in attendance at church. Because of extreme pain of arthritis issues and I am not always able to attend church in person. Each Sunday whether in church or on line I am inspired and honestly have my “toes” step on each week, praise God. The last two years has stressed us all out, Christian or non Christian. Wear a mask or not wear a mask, get the Covied 19 shots or not, personally I believe it is a matter of the a persons choice and should not be forced on anyone. As a 81 year old I have survived since child hood all the so called Covied-19 issues, colds, pneumonia once, croup, bronchitis, coughs, due to medicine I take for BP and Cholestrerol and anxiety. At age 76 I had bronchitis one month which led into croup the following month and in my humble opinion couldn’t be any worse than covied. I honestly thought I was going to die. I couldn’t go to the church we were attending then or anywhere other than the Doctors. I wasn’t afraid though as it gave me two months of reflecting on my salvation and if the Holy Spirit still dwelt in my heart. The minister of the church in late March told the congregation one Sunday to pray for our country and the upcoming election in November to determine who God wanted for President because God Himself did not know. My that statement blew my mind plus a lot of others. He said we had to call the Holy Spirit up in our hearts. When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior many years ago as a young child, Jesus along with the Holy Spirit came into my heart, why did I have to “call the Holy Spirit up.” When I was so sick and laid mostly on our couch for two months and reflected back over the years, prayed, read the Bible and God reassured me, the Holy Spirit was with me, always had been and always will be. I believe God had to take me to a low to bring me back up to remind me after six years at this particular church I had to leave that church, but I had to wait a little longer until Dave was in agreement too. Five years ago the first Sunday in November we will be at MCCC five years. I am thankful God did. God is the Potter and I am the clay and He is still molding me, reshaping my mind and attitude to the person He was creating in my late mother’s womb. A mother who would eventually get her two young children in Sunday School and Church and later her husband, our father in church too. They were faithful Christians to the end of their lives. Praise God I will see them in heaven.
Love this message and the message on Sunday, I too have noticed the strife and dissention in the Church (as a whole) I have prayed several times asking God to bring peace to our country and world. You are right we all need not only pray for peace but we all need to practice and pray that God can help us to be the peacemakers.
Thank you for the detail of how we can take action to be peacemakers. I will be sharing this with others.
Thank you! I pray that I will and am a peacemaker. Thanks for helping me to be the peacemaker and that people will see Jesus in me. May God Bless this church and help us to show the world Jesus’ peace. 🙏❤️