Thoughtful Thursdays

Have you ever wondered why it seems that many Christian women today are not at peace? Though we acknowledge that we know the gospel; that we are saved by grace, yet we often live as though God’s love for us is based on our performance. I believe many of us have perhaps bought into the lie that when we do the “right” things, we sense God’s approval and pleasure, but when we struggle with sin, we feel distant from him. We seem to know intellectually that Jesus is all we need, and yet we clamor and strive for more. We find ourselves craving and lusting after the desires of our hearts, money, maybe a nicer home, a godly husband, beautiful and well behaved children, the perfect career, etc. And though we may think we have great wisdom in many areas of life, we sometimes relate to others like unbelievers. Instead of faithfully blessing and never cursing (Rom. 12:14) or doing good even when we’ve been treated unjustly (1 Peter 2), we can find ourselves subtly attacking others through gossip couched as “prayer requests” or through letters laced with emotions written to confront and rebuke. Then we often fail to draw grace and strength from the biblical admonition found in 1 John 4:20, “If anyone says, “I love God, yet hates his brother, he is a liar”. We are left struggling with bitterness and hatred toward the people who have rejected, abandoned, or attacked us. Our hearts are often heavy and depressed, filled with guilt and shame, saying no matter how hard we try, we will never be good enough. We are women prone to fear, worry and anxiety.

But we have hope in Christ. Our relationship with God through Christ is the foundation for our peace with others and with ourselves. Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” But the answer to our conflicts doesn’t stop with a saving relationship with Christ, because if that were true there would never be any broken relationships among Christians. We must remember that as we grow in faith and are conformed to Christ, we learn to do the hard work of peacemaking, “biblical peacemaking”.

Matthew 5:9 calls us to be peacemakers. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” We are called to be peacemakers in all our relationships. We can do this because Christ compels us, God is the first and ultimate peacemaker and God enables us. Our peacemaking efforts will succeed to the extent that they reflect God’s merciful act of redemption. We are ambassadors of peace, when we trust in God’s grace,

view others better than ourselves, bear one another’s burdens, and forgive our offenders. ~ Rhonda Calabello