“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

Today’s word is one of the eight beatitudes of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. The beatitudes form the climax of the master’s teachings. Each of the beatitudes seems to drive a nail into a coffin – the coffin containing the corpse of false teachings and beliefs regarding the issues of salvation. The false understanding says that a person can inherit eternal life even if his attitudes and actions are like the attitudes and actions of unbelievers. The beatitudes are a call to all to have a new heart. For instance, the Master says; “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. . . . Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. . . . Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” If we don’t obtain mercy, we receive judgment. If we don’t see God, we are not in heaven. If we aren’t called the sons of God, we are outside the family. These are all descriptions of final salvation, and it is promised only to the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. In order to drive home the point, Jesus says “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). At the very end of the sermon, Jesus looked at the crowd and says: “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” This means that, your obedience to the Beatitudes will set your foot on the path of salvation. One notable feature of this teaching is a reminder that God himself is a peace loving God. Therefore He wants His children to become peace makers as well. The scripture says of God; “He made peace by the blood of the cross” (Colossians 1:20). In another instance, the scripture says; “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Therefore, God’s children should have the character of their father – they must be peace makers in order to be true children of God.

Paul in Galatians 4:6 says, “because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” He also says in, Romans 8:14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.” Being led by the Spirit always includes bearing the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is peace. It is by the Spirit of God that we are made children of God, and the Spirit of God is the Spirit of peace. If we are not peacemakers, we don’t have the Spirit of Christ, and therefore, we cannot be children of God. How do we push for peace in our daily lives? Jesus equates peacemaking with showing love to our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. (Ref: Matthew 5:43–47). Here, Jesus says LOVE is an example of peace making. If anyone offends you, do not feed the animosity. Rather try to build a bridge across to that other person. When we extend hands of fellowship to our enemies, we do so because we want peace; not because we want to cover the anger. That is what God Himself did for us. He made peace with us through the blood of Jesus in spite of our sins. He did that because He loved us and would not want us to perish. Endeavour to make peace and reconciliation always. Peace initiatives usually start with little things such as greetings. It expands to greater things like making sacrifices for the enemy.