Ken Sande, in his book The Peacemaker, groups all our different responses to conflict into the categories of peace-faking, peace-breaking, and peace-making. These are helpful ways to analyse your own contributions to the lack of peace in your relationships. Faking peace includes responses like acting as though everything is fine, blaming others or circumstances, running […]
Strengthening a weak relationship
Although the book of Proverbs has dozens of very practical ways to build and strengthen a relationship that is broken and weak, it is a the book of Ephesians that has a a little catch-phrase that proves incredibly helpful in thinking about how to strengthen a weak relationship. In a passage that is all about […]
Best friend, bad friend, hostile friend, re-friend
You can probably relate to some degree. You had a friend. Yes, had, for he is no longer really a friend. You had a friend—a best friend perhaps. But then something went wrong. It might have been a very clear and memorable moment where some great offence was caused, or it might be something that […]
How to change destructive and sinful habits
The Christian life is a life of change. When God saved us, we changed spiritually in a most dramatic way—we transformed from spiritual deadness to spiritual life (Ephesians 2:1-5). Since then, we are changed people (2 Cor 5:17), in a permanent process of change (Phil 2:12-13; Rom 12:2). This continual process of change is a […]
Romans 12:18 Make peace and then be at peace
Matthew 5:9 affirms blessing to those who make peace where there is conflict. But it doesn’t always feel that way. Often the most sincere of peace-making initiatives explode into even greater war. Romans 12:18 both exhorts us to be peacemakers, but also comforts us for the times where the other party in the conflict resists […]
Fighting over agreements
I doubt that I am the only one who sometimes fights with someone I actually agree with. Sometimes the two sides of the same coin are described in such different ways that it appears to be two different coins and a heated disagreement is no surprise. But still, the coin is the same, and both […]
Paving the path to peace
Divisive, arrogant, scornful, conceited, spiteful, thoughtless, vindictive are all descriptions of the ungodly. In contrast, the Proverbs of the New Testament, Romans 12, calls Christians to be those characterised by harmony and peace. This is no clearer stated than in Romans 12:16-18 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with […]
Blessed are the peacemakers
Peace is a delicate thing. It is like balancing a fragile object on a rounded ledge with a cliff on each side. With just the smallest amount of indiscretion, a moment of peace can be broken and fall off the cliff on either side. Making peace, and then keeping it, is difficult. On the one […]
The basics of Christian living
Simplification is good. We appreciate teachers who can simplify complex lessons. We learn much from pastors who can explain grand theology simply. We need frequent reminders of the basics of Christian living. Someone once said somewhat tongue-in-cheek that when Paul wanted to simply the Gospel, the wrote the book of Romans. Although it is certainly […]
The prayer of a peace-maker
Psalm 120 laments the difficulty of being a peace-maker in a world that loves war, trouble, oppression, deceit, and disorder. But Psalm 120 also offers counsel of a typical practical nature. Psalm 120:1 When suffering in a violent and unjust situation, call out to God, for He always answers. Psalm 120:2 Here is the counsel […]