“BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS”
Season: Beatitudes
Episode 7: “Blessed are the Peacemakers”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 5:9 – “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” (NLT)
Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJX-Hks-pvk (Douglas Talks – Blessed are the Peacemakers)
“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15, NLT)
“A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” (Proverbs 15:1, NLT)
When it comes to being peaceful, sometimes people and God have very different ideas. People often think that to have peace no one can disagree or have a different opinion, that somehow you can’t be friendly with those who think differently from you. People also often think that to achieve peace someone needs to be made to stop whatever it is they're doing by force, that somehow people can become peaceful through the use of force and/or punishment. But God’s ideas about peace are very different.
The Bible is very clear that God values peace and He wants His followers to be peacemakers. When someone is mean to us, we shouldn’t just retaliate—either with our words or physically. If we see someone else being mistreated, we should come to their defense. If someone who is a bully needs help, we should try to help them. God doesn’t just want us to try to force others to be kind, He wants us to be examples of what kindness looks like…which is impossible if we aren’t spreading peace in our world to all people—to our parents, our brothers and sisters, kids at school, people we work with, whoever. When people see that we care about peace more than anything, they will feel safe with us, which then will give us a chance to tell them about Jesus who enables us to be peaceful even when other people tell us we shouldn’t be.
Think about it...
• God loves ‘peacemakers.’ How can we ‘make’ peace?
• Being a ‘peacemaker’ does not mean that you don’t stand up for others. How can you be a peacemaker when you see someone being mistreated by another?
• Some people act like bullies, often because they believe that being the toughest is the way to get what you need in life. As a peacemaker, how could you help a bully?
• Sometimes people are mean to us and our first reaction is to be mean right back, but that just makes the situation worse. Why is a peaceful response better?
Prayer: Thank you, God, that you love peace and you made a way for people to have a relationship with you by making peace with us through Jesus. It’s sometimes hard to understand how you could love us while we were still your enemies, but it’s true. Thank you! Help me to show love to others by being a peacemaker, too.