Isaiah 9:6, Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:14

Jeff Cutts

I once saw a line of graffiti on a London wall that read,

'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, soon we'll all be blind and toothless'.

Someone had obviously been affected by arguments and revenge and decided to speak out in bold paint on a railway bridge, and it might not be a direct quote from the Bible but it is something that captured my attention and stuck in my memory. Thinking about it, obviously if we live giving 'tit for tat' it's a downward spiral that will end in a world of pain. Someone needs to break the cycle so we don't end up blind and toothless.

We all desire peace, peace in ourselves, in our family, peace in our towns and in our world. It's unnerving to hear daily news about wars, acts of terrorism and revenge, and it often seems really close to home...for some of us reading this now, violence and revenge maybe right at home. There's often not an easy answer, and I'm not being flippant, but surely if we are God's hands and feet on earth, if we are ambassadors of the 'Prince of Peace' then surely we can make a difference.

So what can I do? And what does God think of all this? After all Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

...'And His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.' Isaiah 9:6

God's word speaks out clearly to us about peace. Let's have a quick look at a few verses from the Bible.

'If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.' Romans 12:18

'Strive to live in peace with everybody.' Hebrews 12:14

Peace is possible!
First off, as Christians we are encouraged to 'strive to live at peace', this means peace is possible! It also makes peace our responsibility, and we cannot just blame others in our arguments. It's hard to face these facts sometimes, but we are not always right, things won't always be the way we want them to be - sometimes we have to win peace with others - even if we think we are right and it hurts our pride.

"What!" I hear you say - "that's not fair!"

Well sometimes not! But it's important to know which battles to fight. Sometimes we can be so right that we are wrong - I hope you hear what I'm saying. There are some things which need fighting and can't be compromised, but if our being right is all about our pride and we fight just to be seen as right, even if we are right we end up in the wrong, hurting ourselves and others. Peace has to start with us; pride is an enemy of peace.

Speaking Peace

'A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger.' Proverbs 15:1