Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9
At the heart of the beatitude sermon, is a call for a change of heart. Like i said earlier on in this series, the beatitudes are not a list of things to tick off the box. They are not another set of laws to observe. But they are fruits that germinates out of us as we stay with our Father. The longer we stay with Him and when i say this i mean staying in His presence, the more we radiate and produce these fruits.
I do not believe in a ‘do as you like’ christian living. I do not believe we can just do whatever we like and bribe our way into Heaven. We cannot earn it either because nothing we do on our own will ever be good enough to earn a place in The Palace. Hence Jesus Christ began the sermon by telling us in verse 3 that we can only enter into Heaven when we realise our need for Him.
I believe Jesus Christ was revealing to the disciples what they needed to be in order to spend eternity with Him.
You all will believe with me that we need peacemakers in this world we are living in. It’s almost like we’ve forgotten how to build bridges. We cut people off and advise people on how to cut others off. We want our space and want to try and do without others as best as we can. We want to have the last say in an argument because we just have to win. It has to be our way or no way. Either we have the last say or we fight the battle with resentment and malice. This sure isn’t the way friend. This isn’t the nature of God and He doesn’t want us to stay this way.
Despite saying this, is it possible to be at peace with all men? I doubt so. Paul said in Romans 12:18
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
The above verse sounds very realistic. But it doesn’t contradict the anchor verse. There are several examples were peace in the normal context will not be possible. We shouldn’t compromise our faith just for peace to reign. We shouldn’t loose our integrity in Christ just so we can make peace. There are some matters where of course we have to observe a distance still for the sake of peace. However according to the above verse, a distance shouldn’t be our first choice. We should try all we can to live at peace. A distance should be considered only when we know deep down in our heart that we have given that relationship our best shot.
Violence, malice and bitterness will never help us win people to Christ. God doesn’t respond to that. He responds to peace.
Hebrews 12:14 puts it in a way i love. It says,
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
To follow means to go or come after (a person or thing proceeding ahead); move or travel behind (according to the dictionary).
So we are to let peace lead the way. We are to follow His footprints and ensure our feet is placed where He places His. Sometimes peace might follow footpaths we don’t love and would have never thought or wanted to follow. But peace always knows best because peace is God. Remember Jesus is The Prince of Peace. So when we follow peace, we follow Christ.
How can we live at peace with others?
I picked out the following points from Romans 12:9-21.
- Love others genuinely
- Stand for the truth
- Be affectionate
- Honour others
- Don’t be lazy
- Be joyful
- Be patient
- Be prayerful
- Be hospitable
- Be humble. Don’t think you know it all
Build bridges instead of walls. A wall doesn’t only block others out, it also cages you in. You can never be genuinely happy when caged in.
As i went for a meeting in my children’s school last week, i saw this prayer on one of their walls and it’s just too good for me not to share.
We are not children of God if we can never get along with people. Being peacemakers doesn’t make us children of God. Rather being children of God makes us peacemakers.
Are you a child of God?
“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:20
Thanks for reading. Please click on the link below to read more topics on this series.
Great post, once again, Efua!❤️ You made so many good points! I’m with you on the not believing in a “do as you like christian living”. I love your list of ways to live at peace with others, too.
This paragraph is profound: “So we are to let peace lead the way. We are to follow His footprints and ensure our feet is placed where He places His. Sometimes peace might follow footpaths we don’t love and would have never thought or wanted to follow. But peace always knows best because peace is God. Remember Jesus is The Prince of Peace. So when we follow peace, we follow Christ.” We shouldn’t mistake a discomfort or fear of the unknown for a lack of peace when he leads us out of our comfort zone. They are so very different and fear, of course, is just the devil not wanting us to obey. So important to trust that where the Lord leads us is the best for us, even though it may require us to stretch.
Love this too! “We are not children of God if we can never get along with people. Being peacemakers doesn’t make us children of God. Rather being children of God makes us peacemakers.” There’s a huge difference there!
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Hey Mia! I’m glad you like it. And I agree we shouldn’t mistake a discomfort or fear of the unknown for a lack of peace.
And yes to trusting God!!!!🙌🏾
I always appreciate your comments my sis❤️
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Great post, Efua. I like when you said, “… we can only enter into Heaven when we realise our need for Him.” because we can’t really form a relationship with God unless we realize our need for Him.
I also like when you said, “It has to be our way or no way. Either we have the last say or we fight the battle with resentment and malice. This sure isn’t the way friend. This isn’t the nature of God and He doesn’t want us to stay this way.” That is just human nature. We all want to have the last say and unlike us; who did it out of spite, Jesus had the last say when He rose from the grave 3 days later. Jesus has the power to back His claim of Him being the Son of God, but we as humans don’t.
In your post, there were several quotes that I liked including:
1). “We shouldn’t compromise our faith just for peace to reign. We shouldn’t loose our integrity in Christ just so we can make peace.”
2). “So we are to let peace lead the way. We are to follow His footprints and ensure our feet is placed where He places His. Sometimes peace might follow footpaths we don’t love and would have never thought or wanted to follow. But peace always knows best because peace is God. “
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Thank you so much Josh. Yes! Jesus certainly did back His claims but like you said we are limited in this. Realising this should bring us to a state of humility. Thanks again for reading and commenting.
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Great, great post. Love the points found in Romans 12, especially the last one. Humility is one trait that most of us cannot seem to keep on. 😊 may be be like Jesus who although was God become a Servant Man for us. Love this post
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Amen! May we be like Jesus🙏🏾.
I’m glad you loved it. Thanks for stopping by🙂
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So true, we need to strive to be at peace with all. That doesn’t mean endorsing or enabling certain wrong behaviors, but we don’t need to fuel any fires of discord. Thank you!💗
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I like how you put it “we don’t need to fuel any fire of discord”. Yes! And I love it. Thanks for your comment🙂
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Amen!!!! I really don’t know what to say because you spoke all of these points so clearly with scripture. 🙂 I’m so thankful you are spreading and teaching His love!!!! In Him we are His kids, you are right! We are fruitful because of the True Vine, not just cause we are branches. 🙂 ❤
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Thanks sis🙂
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