Daily writing prompt

What profession do you admire most and why?

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I admire peace makers in the tradition of Jesus, William Lloyd Garrison, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. who boldly speak the truth as drum majors for justice, yet do so with kindness, compassion, and mercy. (Garrison and King are among my Top 10 Greatest Americans.) Jesus proclaimed, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

It takes rare courage to be a peacemaker. It’s not easy to boldly confront in love, injustice that is disrupting people’s peace and replacing it with cruelty — things like slavery and other forms of human trafficking, unfair laws, authoritarian government, discrimination, racism, violence, war, torture, economic oppression, etc.

Jesus taught and demonstrated a peacemaker lifestyle. He said: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Even with His dying breath, Jesus asked God to forgive those who crucified Him. However, few people who call themselves Christians actually follow those words from Jesus. I look up to people who do them. To profess those words is easy, but to literally live them out is quite rare. Anyone can make such a verbal profession. I greatly admire the few who apply those words in their daily life.

I believe that loving your enemies is so contrary to human nature that it requires supernatural power. I believe that Jesus offers that kind of mercy and truth power to people. When I see people humbly speaking the truth with love and compassion, I see Christ working supernaturally in and through them (even if they don’t claim to be Christian).

If you have a desire for peace, that’s a gift from God. Open your heart to the desire for inner peace and for relationship peace that turns enemies into friends. The best place to begin peace making is to make peace with God by humbly acknowledging and turning away from your rebellion against Him and receiving the forgiveness, healing, deliverance, and restoration that Jesus purchased for you on the Cross by entering into a life-long personal relationship with Him as your Lord and God.

The most important thing for a relationship with Jesus is one-to-one interaction with Him. Without one-to-one interaction with the living Jesus, going to church is just superficial religion.

Let Jesus give you peace even in the midst of life’s trials, tests, and trauma:

When a trial
Lasts a while
Keep your dial
Set on faith.
Every mile
Of the way
Rely on
Jesus and
You’ll find rest
In your test —
Peace from God
That even
Makes you smile
In your trial.
(James 1:2-4)