“The Passionate Pursuit of Peace”

The Proverbs talk a lot about conflict. The greedy stir up conflict, angry people stir up conflict, hatred stirs up conflict, a perverse person stirs up conflict. As Christians, we’re called to the opposite—instead of stirring up conflict, what if you stirred up peace? In the angry, contentious, politically divisive season we’re living in today, being a peacemaker may not be easy. Too often, when the pursuit of peace is painful, we disengage; we give up; we pull away; or worse, we react in bitterness. But a peacemaker is not someone who avoids conflict, or someone who withdraws. A peacemaker seeks peace where they can’t find it; the peacemaker creates peace where they can’t see it; the peacemaker forges peace out of the broken pieces of relationships. So to be like Jesus, you have to passionately pursue peace.