‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.’ Matthew 5:9 NKJV
Jesus spent much of His ministry tearing down barriers and building bridges. He did it through acts of love such as washing the feet of those who would fail and betray Him, eating with a tax collector everybody in town despised, and giving hope to a fallen woman whom society condemned. The Bible says, ‘Peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.’ (James 3:18 NLT) Words of peace are like seeds. They don’t produce fruit overnight, but slowly and silently they work their way to the surface, changing hearts, minds, attitudes and futures. General Omar Bradley said: ‘Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.’ Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.’ Every day you’ll meet frightened, despairing, lonely, angry people who need a word of peace. Do you have one? Solomon offers us three ways to calm strife, defuse a tense situation, and get a better result: (1) Patience. ‘A hot–tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.’ (Proverbs 15:18 NIV) (2) Self–control. ‘Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.’ (Proverbs 16:32 NIV) (3) Wisdom. ‘A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offence.’ (Proverbs 19:11 NIV)
SoulFood: 1 Cor 10-11; Luke 24:13-24; Ps 68:1-18; Pro 25:13-16
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2014
