Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons and daughters of God. Matthew 5:9.

Last time we ended with the question, ‘Since Jesus left His peace for all believers (Jn 14:27), why don’t we see more of it?’ Especially since the peace that Jesus gives is often sited in evangelistic messages as one of the greatest reasons to give your life to Jesus? Not all followers of Jesus walk in this kind of peace on a consistent basis. Ever wonder why?

That’s exactly what Jesus was talking about when He spoke today’s verse: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons and daughters of God.” The Body of Christ at large does not put much of a value on sonship and daughtership. We focus on a lot of things, but often that’s not one of them, even though we routinely refer to God as our Father.

So first of all, a peacemaker is known as a son or daughter of God. That means we enjoy peace with God. That’s where peacemaking starts. But peace with God does not display itself in our lives automatically…it’s not simply a byproduct of ‘saying the sinner’s prayer’, or of becoming a Christian.

Of course Jesus has already made peace and we come to God accepting His terms of peace which is Jesus (Rom 5:1, Col 1:19,20). But living in that peace comes from trusting God, and that is a continual growing activity. The more we experience the faithfulness of God, the more we trust Him from the heart, and the more at peace our hearts become.

Secondly, a peacemaker is a reconciler. Peacemakers are all about building bridges and tearing down walls. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart…” (Col 3:15). Who is ruling in our hearts? If it’s not the Prince of Peace, we won’t be peacemakers. “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification…eagerly seeking to strengthen and encourage one another” (Rom 14:19). In context, Paul wrote this to people who were having a problem with fault-finding, judging each other. If we’re peacemakers, we actively and intentionally live our lives pursuing ‘building up’, not ‘tearing down’.

Finally, true peacemaking is not the absence of conflict, it’s the presence of a reconciling spirit (2 Cor 5:17-19). It’s the commitment we make to each other that enables us and empowers us to work through our differences. Community is bigger than differences and nobody’s going to be pushed out of the community because of differences. Nobody is going to bail out over differences. It’s giving preference to one another in honor (Rom 12:10).

What does giving preference to one another—honoring one another—looks like? Read Philippians 2:2-6. If you’re already familiar with that passage, try it out in a different version. But dwell on that, because that’s a detailed description of a peacemaker, as is Psalm 103:8-10. In both cases they are describing the Father’s and Jesus’ peace-making nature.

Jesus “has committed to us the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19). And that reconciliation begins in our hearts.