Making Peace?

Peace …. Living It and Making It

The last few weeks have been filled with conflict between religions, ideologies, and races. Hot spots around the world abound! In fact, it's depressing to turn on the news.

Conflicts like these aren't new. We have all experienced these kind of tensions before. That must be why God warned us that there would always be trouble in this world. Regardless of that warning, He calls us to live at peace with others and even to make peace!

After living through the 60's, I remember my years in high school and college as being very tumultuous. We had race riots and turmoil in the Mideast. We had campus shootings, war protests, and assassinations.

The idea of a “peacemaker” brings different images to my mind. I think of the peace symbol from the 60’s. We saw the hippies of our generation with signs that said, "Make Love, Not War." Others may think of the two-fingers-raised-in-a-V sign, politicians, an olive branch, a dove, or even a gun.

God didn't say "keep the peace." “Keeping the peace” is different than “living at peace” with others. "Keeping the peace" usually means someone is avoiding conflict at all costs, rather than trying to resolve the conflict. [A future blog will expand on that idea, especially in marriage.]

In Romans, God tells me to live at peace with others if it is possible.* In other words, God is telling me to do my part to live at peace. "Living at peace" doesn't mean that I leave the relationship to be able to live at peace. I remember a man telling me that he was going to divorce his wife because he couldn't live at peace with her. That solution only shifts the problem; it doesn't resolve anything.

Some people are not willing to live at peace with us. They continue to cause conflict, for a multitude of reasons. Usually, they are hurt, so they cause hurt to others.

For my part, I don’t have to take the bait and get involved in attacking back.

To live in peace, I must take a look at my own life and see if there is something that God wants to change.

To live at peace means that I am not holding anything against anyone. It means that I forgive the hurt. I don’t pursue revenge or “pay backs” or trying to make them hurt in the same way they hurt me.

Only after I have looked at my own life, do I seek to address the situation with someone else. In all that I do, I seek to glorify God with my words and my actions.

God calls us to go beyond “living at peace” to “making peace.” Making peace would certainly include making peace with others personally.

Making peace looks for ways to make peace with the people I encounter every day and to even facilitate peace between people. [More on the process of peacemaking in the next post.]

The goal of peace making is reconciliation. The person may need to make peace with God or peace with himself or peace with others. God calls us to a ministry of reconciliation - peace making.

When people can reconcile on a personal level, they are much better at reconciling with people of other races, religions, and nationalities.

Blessed are the Peacemakers …. 

The followers of Jesus have been called to peace. When He called them they found their peace, for He is their peace. But now they are told that they must not only have peace but make it.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

*If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

 Romans 12:18

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 

Matthew 5:9

We can be peacemakers because Christ made peace with us through His death.

...through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:20

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

 Romans 14:19

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
James 3:17-18

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 

 Ephesians 4:3

Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 

2 Corinthians 13:11

Less Stress Christmas

How am I going to have time to get it all done?
Should I buy a gift for a friend ... we have never exchanged gifts before ... I don't want to offend her ... what if she buys me a gift?
Our son wants a car .... we can afford a bike.

Any of that sound familiar?

A couple of tips to reduce the stress of this time of year:

1. Don't charge your Christmas presents.

Only spend what you have that isn't allocated towards previous commitments (for example: mortagage, car payment) or a need (food, electricity, etc.).

We were so excited about our budget spending plan the first year that we were telling everyone how wonderful it was. That was 20 years ago and we are still telling everyone! After that first Christmas on a spending plan, a friend called to thank us for our Christmas present to them. I'm thinking ... "it wasn't that great of a present to warrant this enthusiasm." But our friend thanked us for talking about getting out of debt. She said that was the first Christmas that they had not charged their Christmas presents. After Christmas, they would have the stress of all those bills to face. She said it was their best Christmas ever.

2. Give gifts with meaning, not just something to say that I have given a gift. See our marriage blog for some ideas on gifts for your marriage. Ask yourself the question "what can I give that will still be here after I am gone?" Usually, the Gift of Presence last longer than gifts of presents. As

I look around and think about Christmas, the times we made cookies or went to the Nutcraker ballet with my mother and our kids are the memories and times I cherish the most. Who can remember the presents 20 years later? The Presence lasts forever. Or consider a gift that will bring spiritual growth, which will go with us into eternity - an Eternal Presence.

We are celebrating the Prince of Peace. I pray that I will let His Peace live in me .... a less stress Christmas.

Benefits of Budgeting

We believe a budget is the single most powerful tool for successful money management.

Most of us have no problem with budgets when it comes to the government, business, church, or our employer; we find ourselves skeptical of any entity that is not accountable to a financial budget. However, our thinking often changes when it comes to our personal finances.

What are the benefits to having a written spending plan, a budget?

A budget:
1. Gives us more knowledge of where are money is going, so we can spend more effectively. Properly prepared, with a steward’s attitude, a budget is designed to help us maintain “self-imposed” boundaries. A budget is a simple device to keep us from stumbling over the boundaries that guard us from financial dangers, which can threaten our families - a tool that allows us to spend with wisdom.

2. Gives us peace. Not knowing where your money goes each month can create great fear and anxiety. The budgeting process is really quite simple and takes very little time to maintain. The goal is this: to establish a level of spending for each expense category you have, allocating spendable income to those categories, and knowing where you stand at all times.

3. Reduces marital strife. Creating and utilizing a spending plan provides confidence that funds are available to pay bills on time, that funds are available for those inevitable emergencies, and that you will know how much you can spend for the things you need and want. Agreeing on and spending according to a predetermined plan eliminates much of the emotion associated with finances in marriages.

4. Brings a sense of security. Contingency funds built into your budget gives you the security of knowing you can meet your financial obligations without going into debt.

5. Gives us freedom. Financial bondage can result from a lack of money and overspending, but it can also be caused by the misuse of an abundance of money. True financial freedom requires that we all, regardless of income level, be good managers. Budgeting brings our finances under God’s control and avoids debt that result from uncontrolled spending.

Our Managing Money class will prepare you to navigate the financial roadway – finding God’s plan for Living Well. (Info on the class)

More articles on Money and forms for creating a budget.

What God says .....

God owns all that we have and wants us to be good managers of His possessions. He wants us to seek Him about how to spend all that He has given us, then to follow His plan. He wants us to see Him in every area of our life, even the way we use money.

The Bible contains lots of examples of the importance of good planning. Here are two:

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying ‘this man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Luke 14:28-30

Electric Communication

"Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true." Charles Dickens

"Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you." 2 Corinthians 13:11(NLT)

"So encourage each other and build each other up." 1 Thessalonians 5:11a (NLT)