Two weeks ago, we began our look into the beatitude in Matthew 5:9 which tells us, “Blessed arethe peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” We realized that first, peacemakers are at peace with God. Last week, we investigated the fact that peacemakers are at peace with others. Finally, we need to realize that:
3. Peacemakers are at peace with themselves. For some, this may be the hardest aspect of peace to comprehend. Psalm 122:8 says, “For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,
“May you have peace.” Proverbs 3:1-2 reads, “My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.” We read in Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
If you have peace with God and peace with others (so far as it depends on you), then you should have peace with yourself. But we won’t have peace with ourselves if we either have unconfessed sin OR are still nursing a grudge against someone who has wronged us. If we aren’t feeling peace in us, we may need to look at these two areas of our life.
But I also think a reason we may not have peace is because we haven’t forgiven ourselves for our past. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have things in their past that they regret. Times where they have made the wrong choice…followed the wrong path…done things they know aren’t pleasing to God. We all are guilty of this. And while we may have made peace with God and others as a result of those transgressions…we haven’t forgiven ourselves and don’t have peace.
We are so fortunate that God is a God of forgiveness. Once we have asked Him to forgive us of any sin…He immediately wipes it away. Hebrews 8:12 tells us, “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Never. Such a powerful word in this verse. He will never again remember your sin…or mine. But Satan loves to throw it back in our face to keep us from having peace. He knows that the less peace we have…the less productive and effective followers of Jesus we will be. We dare not let him win.
A few basics things we need to remember about peace:
1. The source of peace is God…that’s why it’s a matter of faith. We must trust and obey Him in order to receive and give peace. Peace demands that we turn to God and to His ways.
2. The enemy of peace is Satan and sin. Wherever there is discord or conflict, you can know that Satan is having his way. It is always easier to create conflict than to strive for peace.
3. Christians should reflect peace in their lives both as a quality they have within themselves and as a blessing they share with others.
Blessed are the peacemakers…will you and I display God’s peace this week in everything we do? I sure hope so, because that is what He expects from His children.
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