“Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.”
What is a peacemaker? A peace maker is someone who lives to spread God’s peace. We can live to spread God’s peace in two ways. We can seek peace with others and we can help others be at peace with God.
One way we can begin to seek peace with others is through forgiveness.
In Mathew 18, Jesus tells a parable about a king who forgave a debt for one of his servants. Jesus says, “And the Lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt” (Matthew 18:27). The king forgave the debt making their relationship right.
The difficulty is that it cost the king money to forgive the servant’s debt. This money belongs to the king but he had to absorb the cost. Forgiving is often difficult because we have to absorb the cost when someone wrongs us.
If you invited me over for dinner and I accidentally broke your lamp; even though you may forgive me it still costs you something. That lamp cost you money and you would have to absorb the cost of the lamp in order for you to forgive me.
Forgiving is hard because it costs us. Yet, the beauty of forgiveness is freedom. When we forgive we are no longer controlled by our own anger and bitterness.
What did it cost God to forgive us? His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. We forgive because God in his great love has forgiven us.
How often should we forgive? The Bible says seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22).
Peacemaking is also helping others be at peace with God. This means evangelism. This means announcing the good news. This means letting others know that they’re God’s enemy and they’re at war with Him. It’s letting them know that they are hostile toward him, but God sent his only Son to make peace.
We shouldn’t be self-conscious about being Christians. There’s nothing to be ashamed of especially because Christianity is true. Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation…” (Romans 1:16). The gospel is God’s power in verbal form. Let’s not be ashamed of the gospel for it’s God’s power for salvation. Let’s be a bold witness to the nations and spread God’s peace.
Pastor Raynold Nakamura