I am currently leading an in-depth Bible Study at my church called "Living Beyond Yourself". This is a study of the fruit of the Spirit according to the book of Galatians.
This week our focus was on peace. I discovered that there is a vast difference between a peacemaker and a peacekeeper. A typical peacekeeper attempts to keep peace at any cost and ironically this brand of peace is primarily a false peace. An example of this would be a person that continues to do something that he or she knows is wrong- "just to keep the peace". That's not peace at all- it's misery. A peacemaker implys actually doing through the word make. A peacemaker must work at making peace. A peacekeeper just goes with the flow- walks on egg shells if you will. Our study reveals that there are 2 opponents of peacemaking- Those who are keepers of false peace (motivated by fear and distrust) and those who are lovers of contention (motivated by misery, power and lack of discipline). I began to look at this informaton as it pertains to Terry Heights and the Leadership team. As members of the Leadership team we must be PEACEMAKERS! We canot allow ourselves to fall into the category of peacekeeping. We cannot be motivated by fear, distrust, misery, power and a lack of discipline. In thinking about our discussion Friday, I think that some of us are motivated to keep peace by these things. None of them are healthy and all of them will lead us to our downfall. Are you a lover of contention? Some people aren't happy unless there is something to be upset about-something to complain about- something to be mad at another person about. And you know as well as I do that those people are MISERABLE!! Let's look for ways to make peace at Terry Heights. It can begin with us. Mend a relationship with another staff member that has been festering for years, refuse to continue practices that are no longer useful, open ourselves up to change. As we begin a new day at Terry Heights lets start with making peace- how can you make peace in your position?
Saturday, April 14, 2007
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1 comment:
Cindy,
I love this. I think you should share this with the leadership team. I've never thought about the difference between a peace keeper and a peace maker. Being a peace maker is active and requires change from one or both parties. Being a peace keeper is maintaining status quo, even at great cost.
Thanks for thinking and sharing about this.
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