Those who are strict with themselves, merciful to others, and pure toward God are peacemakers. They do not like to offend, hurt, or damage anyone. Rather, they like to make peace with everyone. To be a peacemaker does not mean to be political. To be political is falsehood and hypocrisy. We must be righteously square, not politically round. Remember, the New Jerusalem is square, not round. We Christians must be like this. Although we are righteously square, we are still merciful toward others. This enables us to be pure toward God and to see Him. If we are such a person, spontaneously we shall be peacemakers. Instead of fighting with others and hurting them, we shall always maintain peace with those with whom we are involved. This is what it means to be a peacemaker. Those who are peacemakers will be called sons of God. This means that those around us will say, “These people are not only the sons of men, but the sons of God. All the sons of men fight against one another, but the sons of God, like their heavenly Father, are peaceful and always make peace with others.” However, this keeping of peace should not be merely an outward behavior. That is politics. Our peace must issue out of our nature. We have a nature that makes us strict with ourselves, merciful with others, and pure with God. Because we have this nature, we spontaneously keep the peace with others. This is not political peacemaking; it is the spontaneous issue of our nature. This will cause others to say, “These are truly the sons of God.” |