Blessed are the Peacemakers

If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all – Romans 12:18

Ah, Christmas. That joyful time of year when we speak so freely of peace on earth… in the same breath that we bewail the petty dramas that beset our relationships with the people who are closest to us in the world.

In order for there to be peace on earth, somebody has to be a peacemaker. Someone has to be the person who lets go of the drama, releases the anger and the hurt and the pain we clutch like precious pearls, our need to be right, our need to be vindicated, our need to be winners.

We know we need to do this.

“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” – Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller

We have an example, of course. We have the example of Christ himself. We have the story of the Bible, which is the story of the Man who was also God, who came to earth for the purpose of forgiving all debts, letting go all hurts, rejecting vengeance and embracing, instead, peace with those who had chosen to be His enemies. We have the example of God’s own Son, who suffered all things and bore all pain for the purpose of restoring God’s relationship with us.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God – Matthew 5:9

As with all genuinely good things, Christ has gone ahead of us to light the path. And it is because He came to be the greatest peacemaker of all that we, when we become peacemakers like He is, can also be called sons of God, as He is.

Christ need not be the only newborn child of God we celebrate this Christmas season. We, too, can become as sons of God, bringing peace.