Asking the hard questions…now what?!
Me? …A Peace-Maker?!
Love your enemies and be good to everyone who hates you. Ask God to bless anyone who curses you and pray for everyone who is cruel to you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, don’t stop that person from slapping you on the other cheek. If someone wants to take your coat, don’t try to keep back your shirt. Give to everyone who asks, and don’t ask people to return what they have taken from you. Treat others just as you want to be treated. Luke 6:27 – 31
Jesus, Luke 6:27–31
If we can only change the world by changing ourselves, take the time to ask yourself these questions. Have the courage to ask the questions to others so we can set our minds on things above, even while examining earthly things.
You will see these questions being asked throughout our Conference. Be prepared to answer and share and you can start by sharing in the comments below.
- How is God asking me to practice peace?
- Who do I struggle with?
- Who is my enemy? How can I love them?
- Can justice & peace happen at the same time?
- Reconciliation or forgiveness? Can I have one without the other?
- Where do I see hope and peace in the world today?
Love springs from awareness… Therefore the first act of love is to see this person or this object, this reality as it truly is. And this involves the enormous discipline of dropping your desires, your prejudices, your memories, your projections, your selective way of looking…
Anthony De Mello, “The Way to Love”
Let’s Pray
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
– St. Francis of Assisi, Prayer for Peace
Dunia Molinar
Do you come in peace Jehu?
Jehu replied, How can there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel, are all around us? 2 Kings 9:22
Marsha
1. God is asking me to trust in His promises and word. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
2. I struggle with people who do not take responsibility for the harm and hurt they cause others.
3. My enemy is anyone who treats others without fairness or kindness. I love my enemy in the way God requires me to love, with compassion and forgiveness. God loved me when I was His enemy, a sinner. 1 John 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”
4. Yes, justice and peace can occur at the same time. Forgiveness and Trust are the ingredients that facilitate this process. Justice is necessary for a peaceful existence.
5. Yes, you can have forgiveness without reconciliation. As children of God, we are instructed in Matthew 6:12 to “forgive those who trespass against us.” Reconciliation is not required to forgive someone and may not be an option for many practical reasons.
6. I see hope and peace in the world when I watch children from different backgrounds playing together, and through the work of missionaries.
Bob & Julie Huntington
Was great talking and sharing perspectives with quite a few people.Some struggled with the questions, while others thought forgiveness was the best solution for peace..
Not necessacerily becoming close friends, but to forgive realizing we are all in need of forgiveness
Where would we be without the cross !!
Dunia Molinar
Who is my enemy? How can I love them? I consider my enemy According to Ephesians 6:12 we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Considering these words How can I love them?
Dunia Molinar
I am in favour of peace do not take me wrong but, The Bible tells us that for everything there is a season ( Ecclesiastes 3:1). A time for war and a time for peace ( Ecclesiastes 3: 8). How can we interpret the word of God considering these words as well?