Some big shoes to fill
I’d like to take a closer look at this beatitude with you, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons and daughters of God.” In order to understand the deeper meaning of this verse, we must reflect on how God’s Kingdom is unlike our typical understanding, through our human perspective. In the world, if you would ask people to define peace, they would say it is an absence of chaos or personal turmoil. It is a lack of war or interpersonal conflicts. And most people would say they are searching for peace and rarely find it, only experiencing a moment here or there in which they could admit they feel calm. Would most people even be able to describe what peace is to them? Would they say it is a feeling or an environment? Is it possible to possess peace in the midst of a non-peaceful situation??
To understand what Jesus is saying in this beatitude we must start with His definition of peace, found in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
The peace Jesus is talking about is special because it is something that does not come and go like the world’s peace. It is not based on circumstances or feelings; it is based on trust. Knowing that Jesus died to set you free from sin and through His resurrection, He gives you life everlasting. This is the peace He came to give. And that kind of peace cannot be stolen away from you. And if you learn to abide in Him and deepened your trust in His promises to love you, protect you, and establish you, in the ways He deemed for your life, then you will truly have nothing to fear and embrace the kind of peace the citizens of Heaven were meant to walk in.
When Jesus says blessed are those who are peacemakers, He was saying that as believers we are to go and bring the gospel of peace to the rest of the world. That we would be a testimony of what true faith looks like to others, displaying peace in our minds and in our actions, bringing a spirit of peace and trust in the Lord into every atmosphere we enter, literally making peace through the demonstration of our surrendered lives and committed faith in Jesus. And the spiritual blessing for that? For those who demonstrate this peace? They will be called sons and daughters of God. Living life with a type of peace and assurance that is unlike those who do not have faith in Christ should be the most evident way to be identified as a Christian. Peace should be our calling card.
If people cannot recognize us as followers of Jesus by our peace, perhaps we need to re-evaluate our relationship with Him and our understanding of the gospel message. We are called to bring peace wherever we go, and share it with others. And if they reject us, if they reject the the reason we have peace, that the only way to establish and live in peace is to have the one true Peacemaker come to live on the inside of you? Then we are to simply leave and take our peace with us, not allowing their words, judgements or rejection to affect us. That is the definition of being peacemakers. We cannot lose our peace as long as we keep our minds and hearts connected to Jesus and the truth found in God’s Word.
Learn more in this episode of the Kingdom Mindset podcast: https://kingdommindset.podbean.com/e/some-big-shoes-to-fill/