PEACE-MAKER of PEACE-BREAKER?

You can bring peace, kindness and truth to others – a PEACE-MAKER. Or you can choose to be a provoker of strife, controversy, judgements and divisiveness – a PEACE-BREAKER. 

Ask yourself, as a whole, are your words and actions cutting, caustic and critical or loving, encouraging and helpful? 

Thankful to have heat in my car during ONE cold winter morning, I turned it up full blast and rubbed my hands together. Strange. Even after giving it ten or fifteen minutes, frigid air was blowing from my vents. 

Miserable and frustrated, after another five minutes I glanced at the dashboard and saw that the heat button was on high but the air was just now beginning to turn lukewarm at best. The darn car.

Almost at my destination, on closer inspection, it became obvious that, yes my heater was on, but so was my air-conditioning. No wonder things weren’t working right.

James 1:8 says that, “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

In other words, you can’t blow out hot air and A/C on a frigid day and expect to be warm and comfortable. 

Just like you can’t be a PEACE-MAKER and a PEACE-BREAKER and expect there to be peace and love in your life. You will only bring confusion and instability and lack of peace to yourself and others. 

To be effective for the Kingdom of God, Ephesians 5:1 states that we are to be imitators of Christ. Isaiah 9:6 declares the Messiah, “The Prince of Peace.”

Only peacemakers are imitators of God. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) 

What can I do today to be a Peace-Maker? In conversations with yourself and others:

1. Respond thoughtfully, not just with the first thing that comes to your head.

2. Leave every person better than you found him/her.

3. Watch who hang around with. Make friends with Peace-makers and limit your time with Peace-Breakers.

4. Remember “A Kingdom divided will not stand.” (1Kings 12:16; Matthew 12:25; Mark 3:24) – A/C and heat on together do not work. 
5. If you live with a Peace-breaker determine in your heart that you will not change to be more like them. Determine that you will be more like God. Surround yourself with people who also strive to be Peace-makers. And God help you. I mean it. Seek a counselor or life coach who can help you past the confusion and strife created by that person.

6. Make this Scripture your motto: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my Strength, and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14 King James Version)

kathleen whitten

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9)