Peacemakers
Better to be patient than a warrior,
and better to have self-control than to capture a city. ~ Proverbs 16:32 (CEB)
You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family. ~ Matthew 5:9 (MSG)
Prince of Peace! Acting as a peacemaker is one of the greatest challenges in my life. I am so eager to make everything right -- and right now. I want justice! I want vengeance and satisfaction! But you want peace -- and you want me to join in the mission of creating peace wherever my voice can be heard. Slow me down. Give me empathy. Infuse my life with wisdom and grace. Show me how to treat people with mercy. I don't have to look for a teacher. You, Jesus, not only ask us to be peacemakers, but you model peacemaking and you guide us into the process. In spite of my reluctance and weaknesses, I'm very excited to live into this part of my calling as your child. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2015 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul. The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
