ESSENTIAL CHRISTIAN VIRTUES – BEING PEACEFUL

THIS IS YOUR RADIO FRIEND, PASTOR AMARA UWAEZIOZI, BRINGING YOU: “HEALING WORDS FROM THE MASTER”, A RADIO PROGRAM OF THE MASTER’S VESSEL MINISTRY WHOSE AIM IS TO LET YOU KNOW THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND GOD’S UNSEARCHABLE RICHES AVAILABLE TO YOU.

Beloved friends, I warmly welcome you to the broadcast of today…in the Name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Amen! I remain grateful to the Almighty GOD who has kept us and enabled us to continue to bring these transforming messages to you. To GOD be the glory. I received a letter from one regular listener requesting that we come over to Mgbidi to plant a church. Well, if the LORD wills and helps us – definitely one day that may happen. But our goal right now is to continue to bring the message of transformation through the radio.

We trust our LORD to help us reach many more people through these radio messages. Thank you for your interest. Your expectations one day may become a reality.

We shall continue with the series on Essential Christian Virtues. Today’s topic is: Being Peaceful.

BEING PEACEFUL

Being peaceful! The world lacks peace but the Children of GOD must learn to exhibit peaceful attitude and strive to bring peace in a chaotic world. Strive to bring peace in a world that is free of peace.

Our text today will be from Romans 12. It’s a popular passage of the bible. I will be reading from verse 14.

Romans 12:14-21

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Let us pray.

PRAYER

HEAVENLY FATHER, The Prince of Peace, the Author and Finisher of our faith, grant that YOUR Word will have access into the hearts of my hearers. May the power in the Word transform their lives in such a way as to adopt a peaceful disposition in a turbulent world…in JESUS Mighty Name I pray. AMEN!

Yes: peace is one of the most important qualities that anyone can possess. Everything about our LORD JESUS CHRIST spoke of peace. In the Book of Isaiah 9:6, it was prophesied that JESUS will be called the Prince of Peace.

In the Gospel of Luke 2:14, the Angels spoke about JESUS in this manner. Let me read the entire passage.

Luke 2:13-14

³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Our LORD JESUS HIMSELF teaching on the mountain said in Matthew 5:9,

Matthew 5:9

Blessed are the peacemakers,
[For they shall be called sons of God.]

Before HIS departure from the earth HE addressed HIS disciples and said, Peace I live with you, My peace I give you. You find this in John 14:27. No person should be under any illusion about the person of our LORD JESUS CHRIST that HE brought peace and demands HIS followers to live in peace.

Our text is emphatic on this issue. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. What does the phrase “as far as it depends on you” mean? It means that there is no limit to the sacrifice you can make to ensure you live in peace with everyone. Many families today are in shambles because someone is unable to pay the sacrifice for peace. I plead with you to consider yourself as the link for reconciliation. Pay the price of humility or humiliation. Be a peacemaker; it is not weakness – it is strength.

Let us consider three areas of being peaceful:

1. Bless those who persecute you. Our passage says, bless those who persecute you. In verse 14, bless and do not curse. The word bless literally means to say good things about someone. What a tall command. Someone will resent this command in our present circumstance: A situation where there is discrimination in appointments, senseless killings and burning of houses, poverty and hunger occasioned by bad governance and wanton destruction of crops. How can you bless the people that are the agents of these activities?

But we cannot alter the Word of GOD. We are designed to obey the Words of our Master JESUS CHRIST. Obedience to this type of command cannot be achieved in the physical. That is why you need supernatural capability which only is available when you are born again or when you acquire the GODnature through newbirth.

In the Gospel of Luke 6:22-28 – we will read in verse 22:

Luke 6:22, 27-28, 35

²² Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
²⁷ “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

This is the teaching of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. It does not approve the many prayers of today against the enemy. We are followers of JESUS CHRIST. The Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 4:12 said,

1 Corinthians 4:12

¹² We work hard, with our own hands, when we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it.

Friends, hear me and hear me well. I cannot deceive you. To bless an enemy is contrary to human nature. No person is expected to speak well of those who speak or attempt evil against him. It can only be achieved by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. The word curse simply means to wish or pray bad things on other people. Apostle Paul teaches – bless and do not curse. This is very clear. Compare this with the type of prayer you pray through prayer manuals in your prayer meetings.

2. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. It’s another command of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Do not repair anyone evil for evil. This is found in Romans 12:17. Retaliation does not lead to peace. This means do not take revenge: allow GOD to avenge for you. You find it in verse 19 of our passage.

3. Treat your enemies well. We are listing the things that will make for peaceful co-existence and make you a peacemaker. Threat your enemies well. Apart from the issue of saying nice things to our enemies we must go further for peace to treat them well. In Romans 12:20 the bible says,

²⁰Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink;
These good gestures will touch his conscience and force him to change his mind.”

Friends, the world is full of wars and troubles. We cannot contribute to intensive troubles already in existence. Family ties are broken down; we cannot continue to be indifferent – Children of GOD are peacemakers. Let us strive for peace; and together with our LORD bring peace to the already-tensed up world.

The church should be an agent of peace. Let us rise up to our responsibility. As agents of peace, let’s try to reconcile families, communities, torn by ezeship tussles and land matters. Brothers who no longer relate well with each other need to be reconciled. Let there be peace in our land.

Friends, I am sure GOD has spoken to you. It is important you take a decision and respond to the HOLY SPIRIT Word to you. Today the bible says, if you hear HIS Word, do not harden your heart. Those who did so in times past perished without changing. There is no indefinite time for you. Take that decision now and GOD will help you to implement it. Go and reconcile with your brother or your sister. Go and reconcile with that your friend. Accept responsibility for peace. You need help – yes I know.

Let us pray together.

PRAYER

Repeat after me: LORD JESUS, give me help to take steps for peace. It is hard, but I will do it for YOUR sake. Grant me help…in JESUS Mighty Name. AMEN!

I want to pray for you. My dear Heavenly FATHER, I present to YOU my hearers, and especially these ones who want to be made peacemakers and who want to make peace with each other. Please, first, let YOUR SPIRIT come and dwell with them, and transform their lives. In addition, give them enablement to take steps to make peace…in JESUS Mighty Name we pray.

MAY the peace of GOD rest and abide with you always. AMEN!

I remain your friend, Pastor Amara Uwaeziozi. GOD bless you.