11/06/18 - James 3

Nov 6, 2018

Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.   James 3:18 

Having peace in your life takes effort and investment --- by building relationships, confronting issues, and working for unity.

There is a difference between peace-keeping and peace-making.

Peace-keepers try to avoid conflicts.  They often calm people down, but seldom bring a solution to the problem.  Often, peace-keepers operate out of the desire to keep everyone happy.  In a home, the peace-keeper will try to resolve the emotion but overlook the cause.  In the end, it only sweeps the problems under the rug until later, causing deeper problems and longer-lasting strife.  Peacekeeping is not an attribute God is looking for – because it only stalls relationships in order to keep ‘peace’.

But Jesus said blessed are the peace-makers.  Those who make the effort to bring peace face great trial.  Instead of avoiding the conflict, they enter it.  Peace-makers likely will become the target for ridicule and attack.  Often, they gain little or no reward, other than the possibility of a peace happening.   But to God, they are the righteous ones, because making peace is the nature of God.

Jesus was the greatest peace-maker.  He chose to come into the conflict, and sacrifice Himself to bring peace between us and God.  His effort cost Jesus everything, but gained eternal peace for anyone willing to accept His sacrifice.  To follow Him means becoming a peace-maker for others.

You and I have been blessed by the peace-makers in our lives.  Pastors, loving parents, mentors, wise friends, military, police, fire, and many others serve as “peace-makers”.  And if you follow Jesus, you are called to be a peace-maker as well.

There is one main requirement for becoming a peace-maker.  You must be a peace-lover.  That doesn’t mean loving ‘peace & quiet’.  It means loving peace of the heart and soul.  The only way to have peace in your soul is to make peace with God and with your neighbors.  Peace-lovers choose not to live with broken relationships, they seek to reconcile them.  Peace-lovers don’t like confrontation, so they solve the conflicts, peace-lovers enjoy seeing unity more than having power or pleasure.  Peace-lovers give up self to serve.

So the next time you hit a conflict, ask yourself if you want to be a peace-maker or a peace-keeper.  By knowing the difference, you will be able to address the problem better.