More on things that hamper peacemaking. Last night we talked about the trap of being a victim which short-circuits resolving conflicts.

Now we will talk about the other obstacle. This is seeing ourselves as better than those sorry people who hurt us. By looking down on them, we can excuse our unforgiveness because they, of course, do not deserve to be forgiven.

However, In having this attitude, we fail again to take up the grace of God, to see the reality that we are all sinners.  In 2 Peter 1:5-7, the Holy Spirit lists out seven qualities we are to take up and use in our lives:

--virtue, (agreeing with God)

--knowledge (of Jesus and our natural condition of depravity, along with our unnatural condition of being forgiven, adopted and dearly loved by God),

--self-control (doing what we know is right, like forgiving),

--endurance (pressing on with what is right even when things don’t work out),

--godliness, (thinking and acting like God),

--brotherly kindness (the essence of peace making),

--and agape love (love that is not influenced by the response of others).

Looking at that list is impressive—if we added those qualities regularly, conflicts could be quickly resolved from our side.

Then God goes on to say that  “whoever does not have these qualities in his life is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.” This leads to thinking of himself better than others.

In contrast, He says of those who DO add these qualities, “they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So if we want to be effective and productive in our knowledge of Jesus, here is a clear map to achieve that.

Humility is a key part of peace making, and humility can be defined as “seeing ourselves as God sees us,” both in our depravity and in our redeemed, imputed righteousness. 

When we move towards this, we can forgive, remembering how much we have been forgiven, we can let go of our hurt and  with God’s grace rise above the difficulties of life. This help make peace in the most difficult relationships, thereby pleasing and honoring God!