« negative feelings | Main | conveyor belt education »

peacemakers

Hard time going to sleep so I decided to read. Picked up the book by my bed and came across this:

"Paul wrote, 'If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, ... Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.' (Philippians 2:1-2 Paul taught that our ability to get along with others is a mark of spiritual maturity...

If you want God's blessing on your life, and you want to be known as a child of God, you must learn to be a peacemaker. Jesus said, 'God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God' (Matthew 5:9). Notice Jesus didn't say 'Blessed are the peace lovers.' because everyone loves peace. Neither did he say 'Blessed are the peaceable' who are never disturbed by anything. Jesus said, 'Blessed are those who work for peace' - those who actively seek to resolve conflict. Peacemakers are rare because peacemaking is hard work...

Peacemaking is not avoiding conflict. Running from a problem, pretending it doesn't exist, or being afraid to talk about it is actually cowardice. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was never afraid of conflict. On occasion he provoked it for the good of everyone. Sometimes we need to avoid conflict, sometimes we need to create it, and sometimes we need to resolve it. That's why we must pray for the Holy Spirit's continual guidance.

Peacemaking is also not appeasement. Always giving in, acting like a doormat, and allowing others to always run over you is not what Jesus had in mind. He refused to back down on many issues, standing his ground in the face of evil opposition."

The chapter goes on to discuss the biblical steps needed to restore a broken relationship:
1. Talk to God before talking to the person.
2. Always take the initiative.
3. Sympathize with their feelings.
4. Confess your part of the conflict.
5. Attack the problem, not the person.
6. Cooperate as much as possible.
7. Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.

~ Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (day 20)

Interesting that this came up at this particular time. Answers several questions floating around in my brain tonight.

Posted by Debby on February 19, 2008 12:16 AM
:: Edit :: Back to Top ::

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)