Peace for broken relationships

We have a challenging opportunity with an awesome blessing today!  Continuing on our journey in the Beatitudes, we come to Matthew 5:9:

 

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.

 

There are some loaded words in this short verse!  Peacemakers.  Have you ever had a relationship that was broken?  The sharp edges of broken relationships damage souls.  Broken relationships create broken people.  Broken people break others.  The cycle would be endless except for Peacemakers.  The word used, though, does not convey the idea of someone who glues fragments together. It conveys reconciliation and restoration.  It is the essence of what Jesus did for us.   Scripture tells us that without Jesus Christ, we are enemies of God!  Jesus served as the Peacemaker to restore our relationship with God.  This blessing only comes to those willing to serve as Jesus did. 

 That is a truth which should make us squirm.  Peacemaking is done with people who are not nice:  people who will reject your efforts; people who will not be thankful; people who will not care if they hurt you and may even kill you.  Peacemaking is costly.  Only when we have sat at the foot of the Cross and understood the undeserved reconciliation provided by Jesus Christ will we ever be willing to accept the costs that come with being a Peacemaker.  The sins that fragment relationships are ugly.  Restoring relationships requires a sold-out love for God based on the way He loves us.  Nothing else is sufficient to cover the debts incurred in broken relationships.

 The other incredibly powerful word to think upon is “sons.”  Some translations say Peacemakers will be called children of God, but ‘sons’ presents a more immense privilege.  In fact, the same word is used for Jesus Christ Himself.  Jesus is not called a child of God but the son of God.  Son conveys the idea of one who fully represents the character of God.  The adoption into the family of God gives us the immense privilege of being a child of God.  Growing into maturity brings us to the almost inconceivable privilege of manifesting the character of God in our relationship with others.  My heart soars with thankfulness to God that He allows sinful humanity this blessing.  Those conflicts that come in our lives are opportunities for blessing.  May His love for us so overwhelm our hearts that we simply overflow onto all who are around us.