Be a Peacemaker / David Jeremiah

 

Be a Peacemaker Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. Romans 12:10   In 2012, the New York City Police Department handled some four hundred hostage negotiations. Another year they handled a negotiation that lasted fifty hours and employed seventeen crisis negotiators. Talking a suspect “down” requires great skill and focus. The immediate goal is the safety of the hostages and the suspect by defusing the situation using patience and empathy.1

Recommended Reading: Psalm 34:13-14

Hostage situations are not the only things that need defusing. Relationships can be tense and potentially explosive as well, requiring the skills of someone who can calm the situation. Paul provides a template for how to bring calm into a tense situation: “Be kindly affectionate . . . giving preference to one another. . . . If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:10, 18). A tense moment calls for calm and the lowering of temperatures. We can do that for one another if we have love, affection, and humility toward every person. “If it is possible” today, be the calming presence if you encounter a tense situation. Be a peacemaker wherever you go (Matthew 5:9).    Humility binds Christians together in peace. Thomas Watson