Being a Peacemaker

Being a Peacemaker

“Blessed are the peacemakers . . . .” Matt. 5:9. Being a peacemaker when everyone else is one too, when they are all righteous, reasonable, and pleasant, is not really a good reason for honoring and commending such a person.

However, always being a peacemaker, always keeping the peace in the midst of an evil world where you regularly encounter unrighteousness, unreasonableness, unpleasantness, defamation, and everything that is evil—that is extremely praiseworthy.

Only the person who loves God, who loves peace so much that he is repeatedly willing to suffer anything in order to keep the peace—only such a person can be a peacemaker.

Unfortunately, such people are very rare. In the majority of cases there is strife and unrest even for the sake of some trifle. People usually belong to the sons of tumult.

Making Peace

In Isaiah 9:6 Jesus is called Prince of Peace or Peacemaker. Our calling is nothing less than ruling as princes of peace, or peacemakers, together with Him. We are trained and educated by Him for this purpose in this world among the sons of tumult.

If it is always difficult to keep the peace, yet it is much more difficult to be able to make peace between warring parties!

“All” that is needed to be able to keep the peace is that you have genuinely forsaken everything in this world, neither demanding your right, nor having your will pushed through, nor any honor or consideration from your fellow sojourners.

Moreover, to be able to make peace between people, everything, so to speak, is required: a thorough salvation in all areas. You need to have a fullness of fervent love for both parties; you need to be set free from partiality, have wisdom, meekness, a burning zeal and firmness (see Isaiah 9:7) and endurance until the end has been obtained. You need to be exercised in discerning between non-essential and essential things so that you stay with what is important instead of getting lost in an innumerable number of insignificant things that are not of critical significance anyway. You need to have a deadly serious view based on experience of the indescribably terrible consequences that contention and bearing a grudge against someone can have, also how terribly difficult it is for matters to heal perfectly again.

However, it is possible—glory to God!—to restore everything one hundred percent again.

I think if people knew how deadly serious it is to fall out with someone, they would rather choose to be tortured than to let that happen.

Here we need to be trained by the Most High! Glory to God, who in His great love for us gives such training! Blessed is everyone who senses his calling and is drawn to such a life in the midst of this evil world.