Pursue Peace

Author Unknown

​I saw the above meme posted on a friend’s social media this week and it really gave me a much needed chuckle!  We’re one week into the new year, and, well, you know what’s happening!  Believe it or not, I have no words for my thoughts and feelings regarding last week.  I just know that the look on my 16 year-old’s face when I came home from work on Wednesday, was very disheartening.  He called me over to look at his phone.  He was looking at still photos of the mayhem at the Capitol.  He still has a year and a half before he can vote, but these United States appear to be a foreign land.  I’ve found that when we don’t have the words, we can go to the Word for wisdom and understanding.  Four passages I would like to highlight. 

Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.
~1 John 5:21 NLT

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 
~2 Chronicles 7:14-15

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  
~Galatians 3:28

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
~1 Corinthians 14:33

It always gives me pause when I see someone that I haven’t seen in a while and they tell me they are following me on social media.  I try to post nice things, funny things, Scriptures, pictures of my dogs, my weekly message, but following me just doesn’t seem like the best use of someone’s time.  I know they just mean that they see my posts, but it makes me think of idolatry and I am certainly not someone to be idolized.  I am someone who sins, I am imperfect in many ways, I am growing in my sanctification, and I am a friend of Jesus, but I am not Jesus and not someone to be idolized.  We must be very careful that we don’t begin to allow anyone or anything to take God’s place in our hearts.  It can happen very easily.  We can idolize sports figures - calling them the GOAT, we idolize actors, musicians, and politicians - hanging on their every word.  It’s a dangerous thing to allow someone or something to replace God in our hearts.  

Paul wrote about how we should handle disagreements in Romans 14, saying, “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.”  While we all have differing beliefs and ideals, we shouldn’t allow these to become matters of contention.  We must keep the ways of the Lord as first and foremost in our hearts and minds.  We must humble ourselves, pray, and allow His sovereignty to rule.  His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts.  (Isaiah 55:8-9)

We must realize that although we differ from others in our thoughts and opinions, we are still one in Christ.  Whether we are a Clemson fan or a Carolina fan, a Delta or an AKA, a southerner or a Yankee, or a Democrat or a Republican, none of this matters.  When we go to heaven, it will not be sectioned off for different cliques. Scripture reminds us that “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  ~Galatians 3:28

This week, when you feel yourself getting upset, feeling the need to lash out at someone because they think differently than you, feeling the need to use social media to make a point or handle a disputable matter, pause.  Try to have some objectivity.  Remember that Jesus taught us to love, and He taught us to pursue peace.  Always remember 1 Corinthians 14:22, “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”  There are about 50 weeks left in 2021, let’s not let week one set the tone.  Amen. 



Thank you for reading!
Pursue Peace. 
Kim

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