I think it’s amazing that in the Sermon of the Mount (Matthew 5), “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God….” is the only “blessing” where you are identified with the most High as His child. In every other one you get something in return (for yourself), e.g., “blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted”. Being identified with God brings consequences. Peacemakers are right in the middle of the conflicts making peace, and sometimes, that comes with struggle. Peacemakers are not peacekeepers, you can’t keep something that’s not there! like the blue U.N. helmets during the Rwanda genocide who had guns, but couldn’t shoot the enemy who was shooting women & children–these are called “peacekeepers” in that realm. Making peace is a whole other animal, and spiritually, how do you *make* peace where there is none? That only comes if you bring in the Prince.
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I was bothered with the news this morning that a man boarded a subway in New York, exclaimed “happy hannukah everyone!”, and another passenger yelled something along the lines of, “you killed Jesus you *bad word* Jew!”, followed by about 10 other people who beat him up. Why do crazy people do stupid things like this?
A: the violent passenger is nowhere near being a follower of Christ with that kind of attitude.
B: IF he thinks he is, check the Matthew verse AGAIN.
C. Can some Christians from New York please call that Jewish family & show them some love, support, & respect?
No Christ, no peace.
Know Christ, know peace. (bumper sticker I saw a few years ago).
So I add:
Know Christ, make peace, child.
Ines,
As I was recently looking at the blessed are the peacemakers passage I noticed the same thing, maybe for the first time. Amazing how we overlook things so much. Being adopted into the Family means we must seek peace. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time understanding how seeking peace can ever be done through violence…
Thanks for the post sister and for the commentbr/>
eric