Living At Peace With One Another
………………………Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind,live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Cor. 13:11 (NIV).
God calls us to be actively involved in ensuring peace in our homes and in our communities. As far as God is concerned, His people are family and though families have differences, there is a bond of LOVE which God gives to His children – Jer. 31:3. The Holy Spirit has given us love – love spawns peace because love wants to ensure the wellbeing of the object of love.
Peace has to be understood in the context of reconciliation because peace springs from reconciliation. Reconciling is making peace. The Hebrew word which translates peace refers to the “complete well-being God offers to the individual, a city or a country including its material prosperity and physical safety.”
God is very concerned about the physical safety of the people He has created and even more so for those He has redeemed as His own because it is His will in Christ Jesus that such people become His agents of reconciliation and peace - 2 Cor. 5:18-19.
We cannot talk about peace without talking about reconciliation. In order to have peace, we must do away with enmity – hatred to one another. Reconciliation refers to one another.
As Christians we know that truth is not merely an abstract concept but rather an attribute of a person – the triune God Himself. Indeed Jesus in John 14:6 says that He is the TRUTH. As children of God, we are to be good representatives of our Father using the example of our Brother Lord and Master Jesus Christ.
We are dependable, truthful and upright, just as God is. This is particularly important for rulers who are essentially God’s representatives on earth. When rulers fail to manifest God’s character, their failure becomes evident in bad governance and bad leadership. It is not a call to arms!
The relative peace we have been enjoying seems to be falling apart. What am I doing to ensure that I live at peace? What will you do? What will we do directly and indirectly?
As individuals, Jesus enjoins us to be peace makers – blessed are the peace makers for they will be called the Children of God – Matt. 5:9
- We need to pray for the spirit of wisdom and mediation;
- We need to report those who refuse to obey the law – no one is above the law.
- The Church has a major role to play! God has given us a platform, and for that I commend all Church leaders.
The Task for the Body of Christ
The Body of Christ is mandated to live out and proclaim the mission and message of Jesus
our Messiah to the whole world. He has entrusted us with a ministry of reconciliation – 2
Cor. 5:18-21 and thus, we Christians must ultimately be concerned about matters of justice
and peace. These virtues must first of all be apparent within the Christian community,
which should be characterised by love, fellowship, affection, mercy, like-mindedness,
agreement, selfishness and humility – Phil. 21:8
But Christians must always remember that God’s truth, peace and justice as revealed by the
cross of Christ are intended not only for the church and believers, but also for the entire
world. We are called not merely to believe in peace and justice but to work to achieve them
for everyone without any distinction or discrimination. Peace-making is thus, an important
Christian virtue.
Like Jesus, Christians must do works of love and mercy and seek justice for everyone,
whatever the cost – Isaiah 11:1-5; 61:1-3; Luke 4:18, 19. Christians must be compassionate
in order to see and hear he cry of the oppressed and the downtrodden and must identify
with just and righteous causes. The greed and selfishness of individuals and groups need to
be exposed and condemned in light of both biblical teachings.
In the final analysis, it is God who makes kings. As John the Baptist said, we cannot have
what we have not been given from above.
Political power is ultimately about SELFLESS Service – parliament is not a job centre for
those who are jobless nor is it a pace for making money. The term Honourable must be
earned and it should not be done through intimidation, brutal assaults, insults and character
assassination, blatant lying and hypocrisy.
The position of Head of State is even more crucial! It is God who wants a representative for
Ghana. As human beings, we should do our best in campaigning and leave the results to
God.
Stay Blessed!
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