Devotions: The Blessings of Peace

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew 5:9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

This is such a powerful statement because it not only tells us how to be blessed, but also how we are identified with God. Our blessing is in our identity as a child of God! Anyone who has struggled with identity issues knows the inner turmoil it causes. I think that is partly because our identity is supposed to be rooted in Christ; who He is, what He has done for us and what He says about us. When we place our identity in anything else we lose peace because deep down we know that is not who we really are. And those things in which we place our identity are faulty. They will never satisfy; we will never be good enough. But if we base our selves in the truth of Christ we will have peace and we will be blessed. Another important point of this verse is that we must make peace, be peaceable, in order to be identified with Christ. Others know who our Father is by how we act. Those who cause disagreements, arguments, jealousy, gossip, discontent, disrupt unity, criticize, etc, are not acting like God because He is a God of peace. In order to be known as a child of God we must act like Him; we must love our enemy, forgive even when we seem justified in not forgiving, and be at peace with everyone, we must be led by the Spirit. If people do not recognize us as children of God, maybe it is because we do not act like Him, maybe we are not peacemakers. I know many Christians who think it is their duty to put down every false doctrine. Unfortunately they do this publicly (often of social media). All that the world sees when Christians argue and put each other down is that we are selfish and unloving. Seek to set your identity in Christ. Pursue peace in everything. Be a peacemaker and be blessed!