Peacemakers

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Mt 5:9)

Our God is the number one peacemaker. It was He who took the responsibility to send his one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins and reconcile us to the Father. Furthermore, He gave us this ministry of reconciliation through the Great Commission as an inheritance (2 Cor 5:18, Mk 16:15) so that we may walk in it and reap its fruits for the glory of the Father (Eph 2:10).

When we talk about reconciliation and what it implies, we often miss out on a lot of important details. I am mainly referring to our behavior and relationships. Despite being born again and receiving the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, we often still act under the bondage of fear, egocentrically and defensively. The Apostle Paul writes: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.” (Rom 8:15)

I am sure there are many factors involved and we each have a unique history to deal with, but I also believe that our God made all things new by the working of His Spirit inside us and by His resurrection power He gave us a new and eternal life (2 Cor 5:17).

I would like to share with you some of my experiences with the goodness of God and the Father’s heart.

I have been serving in the Youth Ministry for almost two years. During this time, I have been going through some rough times in my personal walk with God. I’ve had my ups and downs while dealing with issues of lack of trust, pride and rebellion. From a worldly or legalistic perspective, God shouldn’t have allowed me to serve at all, especially with teenagers, because their age is a very critical one. Wrong counseling or guidance at their age would cause a lot of damage. But by His amazing grace and sovereignty, God picked me for this ministry. I didn’t know then what I know now. Let me tell you what I learned during these two years.

I learned that God is bigger than us and that He doesn’t look at situations, the way we do. I learned that obedience is the hardest thing to accomplish without the love of God and I learned that God is yearning to see His children walk in obedience in the Spirit and bearing much fruit in their lives.

All youth leaders know the feeling when they go to serve unprepared and suddenly God shows up and turns things around just when you thought that you were headed for a complete disaster. And other times you go on preparing everything beforehand and you end up with no anointing and no breakthrough because you left God out. At the end of the day, you learn that God is in control and we need to rely on him, seek him, obey him and not mess with what He has in store for His children. He loves His people in a way that we can barely comprehend. His ways are higher than ours.

When working with people and especially teenagers, one thing you have to deal with constantly is fights. One of the reasons why God needs pastors is that His sheep don’t get along all the time. I’ve seen people try to lead His sheep with the biblical, social and psychological knowledge they have. I’ve seen others doing it with the zeal and determination they have, and a lot of others who don’t even care.

I believe one of the most essential things one has to know deeply through his/her relationship with God and walk with Christ is that he/ she is a child of God. Being a child of God means a lot of things. It means that we are not orphans, we are secure, we have authority, and we are conquerors and winners. It also means that our Father expects us to spend time with Him, hear from Him and obey Him. Being a son/daughter is about respect and love… out of which is born peace.

Out of the peace we now have with God, a desire to bring all mankind into peace with God and with each other is born. In youth ministry, I learned more about the Father’s heart than during the previous five years of my walk with God. The society we live in and modern culture in general is so egocentric that no one really cares about others. Sadly, it is the same in most churches. I have a character that tends to be self-satisfied. I’m not a social person. Through my pastor, God always challenges me to “go out there” and experience relationships. It’s my calling to bring people into reconciliation. I know this now. Something I never knew two years ago.

Youth ministry is about relationships and it is about being a father. Every time I pray that God shows me what His will is, He guides me to someone hurt, broken, frustrated or upset.

In very strange ways God reveals His heart to those with broken hearts. I have asked myself why God chose me. I dismissed all the possible answers I came up with, because they had to do with my abilities and I know God is not a respecter of persons but gives grace to the humble (Prov 3:34). I believe that the real reason why God chose me is that I know that He is good.

He never rejected me when I rebelled. He never exposed my shame when I was seeing myself as the best and all the rest as lost. He never left me alone in difficult times even when I had misused His grace.

I KNOW He is good and I KNOW His mercy never ends. I love Him for that. God uses me to be an instrument of His goodness and love. I am grateful for that.

My pastor was the first person who taught me and showed me how reconciliation really works. It was when me and my wife were still engaged and not married yet and had a really bad fight. We had reached a point where we couldn’t even bare looking at each other. We couldn’t stand each other anymore. He asked each of us to make a list of all the things we’ve done to hurt the other and say “I’m sorry” for each point on our individual lists without mentioning anything that we thought the next person mistreated the other in. I never knew that saying “I’m sorry” had such a great power when used without ‘but’-s following it. Our relationship changed drastically. We started loving and caring for each other in a much more intimate way. I started seeing her as the Father does and I started receiving the Father’s love for me through her.

I learned from Jesus the way of the Cross, how to humble myself and deny my rights so that the power of His love may manifest in me (Phil 2:1-11). It is by His grace that we are saved and have the enabling power to obey the Commandment to love our God and love our neighbor just as He loved us; when we were sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8).

This is the Good News of the Gospel made practical. This is something I want others to experience. This is love in action, not just emotional love but powerful life-changing love.

While teenagers hurt each others’ feelings, get upset, hold grudges and feel all empty inside, I want to tell them about the love of Christ inside them. I want to tell them about the power of the Holy Spirit living inside them. I want to give them the Good News in a tangible manner. The Gospel is real. Few of us dare to live it.

Jesus was the ideal peacemaker. From the time he began His earthly ministry, all the way to the Cross, He never used earthly wisdom, but did only what He saw the Father doing. He brought peace to men. He gave sight to the blind, forgave sins, raised the dead, cast out demons and gave back to Caesar what is his while leading men to God. He transcended cultural, religious and social boundaries. He denied His rights all the way to death to purchase a peace with God for all humanity with his own blood.

Obedience comes with a price, but with a reward as well! Being a son has its roots in the love for the Father and it reaches the masses with the heart of God. This is the foundation of the Great Commission.

I pray that every son and daughter of God stick to their identity and calling as peacemakers. I declare the love of God on each one reading this article. May you be touched by the life-transforming power of the Spirit of God and walk as children of God, doing what you see the Father doing: Reconciliation!

Peace.