Be a daily peacemaker

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5: 9). Nothing distinguishes Christians more than their love.

They glorify God, serve others diligently, as they grow to be like Christ.

Spiritual growth cannot happen in a vacuum. Time alone alone can teach us, but it is inadequate on its own. Conflict is an opportunity to overcome fear and pride, among other things. We cannot show humility unless we are in relationship with others.

The hardest time to keep your composure is in the heat of conflict. The opportunity presented by a close relationship with God is to perform breath prayers, literally exhaling as much stress as we can while inhaling all the peace.

The gospel presents and opens to all the absurd love of God who loves the majority of those who are most violent towards him. When Jesus prayed for human beings to be as close as He and the Father are, he echoed the grace that loves its enemies, despite all they do. Such love has not only conquered the world, it continues to conquer evil in our personal worlds.

Many Christians continue to be persecuted for their sin and therefore judge others every time they see them sin. But if we find ourselves scandalously forgiven by God, never to be condemned again, constantly living in the light of such truth, we grant others the grace in which we live.

We should live as the kind of people that God insists we already are.

Being more in touch with our feelings requires us to slow down. And we are more alive as a result.

From our heart comes the filth that forces us to sin. From that same heart a reconciling love can emerge that conquers other hearts and restores the vision of God in the realm of relationships.

Because we risk pain and suffering in this life, especially as it portends in our relationships, we have to continually remind ourselves that it is a success when we cooperate with God’s will.