How do I become a peacemaker?
Being a peacemaker is a growing commitment. You don’t have to know for sure how you would react in all situations before deciding that you want to commit yourself to the way of peacemaking. You can simply decide that you will try, with God’s help, to think, speak, and act in peaceful, Christ-like ways.
Some people worry that they don’t know how they would react in a situation where their loved ones were being attacked. No one knows for sure how they would react at any given time. But you can prepare to be a peacemaker, thinking through alternate self-defense and family-defense scenarios. You can commit yourself, under God’s guidance, to respond in a Christ-like way, taking into account that Jesus also wants you to care for your loved ones.
“Pacifism is a gift. Maybe it is a gift directly passed down by our parents. Maybe it is a gift received at the end of a hard time struggling … However we receive it, God calls us to accept this gift with joy.”
–Ted Grimsrud, Mennonite theologian, in “Pacifism is a gift of God.”
Gospel Herald, Feb. 1, 1994
