Tuesday, July 23, 2013

By: Rachelle Hitt Bilbo

Day 8: The Beatitudes "Blessed are the Peacemakers"

Spitting Image of Dad

Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

As soon as a new little baby enters this world, most families try to figure out who the baby favor most...mom, dad, or an equal combination of both.

Honestly, I have never been very good at pinpointing the features of a newborn to one or the other parent. However, as the child grows, it becomes much easier to identify who the child resembles.

In today's beatitude, there is a characteristic that not only causes us to be blessed but also results in being called children of God. That defining quality is living as a "peacemaker." By mirroring this beatitude, others are able to recognize that we are indeed part of God's family.

When considering the word "peacemaker," we often limit our definition to a person who brings peace between two individuals in a conflict. While that is a very important quality of being a "peacemaker," there is so much more.

1 Corinthians 14:33 declares "For God is not a God of disorder but of PEACE..."

As God's children, we are the ambassadors of His peace. Therefore, in all situations that we are involved in, we have the ability to declare and deliver peace.

But if we are not careful, we can instead bring more disorder and chaos in already difficult times. When my mother-in-law had a stroke, doctors believed that she would never regain full function in her left hand again. There were some well-meaning people who came to see her, but when they would begin to share their stories of someone they knew who had suffered a stroke and their resulting challenges, my father-in-law would ask them to leave or change the conversation.

That may sound harsh, but he had the responsibility of maintaining peace during her circumstance. Those stories truly had the potential to feed her not her faith. (Miraculously, she left that hospital completely healed!)

Proverbs 18:21 reminds us that "The tongue has the power of life and death..."

I challenge you today that when friends and family come to you with issues concerning their problems or those of others, consider if YOUR words will feed their fear or their faith...bring life or death to the situation.  How you decide to nourish them with your words could strengthen them in that area or sadly bring them down. Strive to "look like Dad" by always choosing peace for yourself and those He has entrusted you with.

Dear Lord, Give me the words to say to set an atmosphere of peace wherever I go!

I thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.