What type of Peace-person are you??

I don't recall where I first heard the term "peace-maker" vs. "peace-keeper", but I connected with it right away. It was a "wow" thing for me to hear. Then I started to notice the difference between the two types of peace-people when I saw people around me. I have always been aware of this and tried to be one over the other. Anyway, at my recent Bible study it was talked about in a video by Beth Moore. "Wow," is all I can say. Here are my notes and hers from the video session...



Matthew 5:9 makes note of the difference between a peacemaker and a peacekeeper.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

Peacekeeper

• Attempts to keep peace at any cost (and the cost can be great).
• This brand of peace is false peace (Jeremiah 8:11).
• It is NOT real peace; it is an attempt to keep something that isn't really there.
• It is unhealthy and unhealthy peacekeeping is an oxymoron.

Peacemaker

• Inferred in the Greek word eirenopoios. Poios means "to make, do, expressing action either as completed or continued."
• We have not the power to fix someone.
• It takes action, doing, and work!
• Peace comes through surrendering to the Prince of Peace and the authority of Jesus and His personal rule.
• Peace doesn't come with the answer to a problem, it comes with authority (Jesus' authority).
• Sometimes the sword of God comes down to cut off things (addictions, relationships, a certain job, etc.) in order to bring peace.
• The issue is that we have an obedience problem. We have inner turmoil when we are not in obedience to Him.

Opponents of Peacemaking

1. Keepers of False Peace
• Motivation for it:
1. Fear (keeps us caught in turmoil)
2. Distrust in God
2. Lovers of Contention (power issues);
• Motivation for it:
1. Misery
2. Power (manipulative)
• Good power is found in...
1. Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
2. and II Corinthians 4 and 7
3. Lack of Discipline (godly discipline)

• Contentious People--Galatians 5:15 "But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!"
• We cannot be under the authority of Jesus when we are a mess inside because we are trying to keep it together. It is a trust-in-God issue.
• Allowing others to believe that everything is "together" behind the closed doors of your home when it really is not, is peace-keeping and it is false.
• A child can cause contention to control the household. It is a God-given thing to effect our environment, but it can get out of hand when it is not under the authority of Jesus.
• It is manipulative to keep the power of forgiveness from someone who is seeking your forgiveness (internally or externally).

HE (Jesus) is our Peace and our only TRUE peace!

Hebrews 12:11 "Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

Ephesians 2:14-16 "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity."

Colossians 3:15 says "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful."

I Thessalonians 5:23 "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus."

So.....Are you a "peacekeeper" or a "peacemaker"???

There is so much more to this week long study about peace. Dig deeper on your own. Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit study can be purchased online or at most local Christian Bookstores. It will change your life if you allow God to use it to do so!!