I’ve never been the type of person who seeks out conflict. I suppose you can blame my people-pleasing and abandonment issues for that. Sometimes I wish I were someone who doesn’t mind rocking the boat. I do come up with some real zingers when I replay conversations in my head.
But I’ve come to realize that peace isn’t just the absence of conflict. In fact, I’ve found that avoiding conflict has destroyed more peace in my life than it has given. Actual peace comes from repairing what created the conflict in the first place.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
And there really is such a profound difference between peacemaking and peacekeeping.
Peacekeeping is like trying not to rock the boat when it has a hole in it.
You might feel at ease for a bit.
But the problem hasn’t gone anywhere.
If you don’t do the hard work of patching things up,
You’ll still be sunk no matter how calm the waters seem.
Making peace is about repairing what’s broken.
You look below the surface and face the damage head-on.
Even when you’ve had a hand in causing it.
You might make some waves in the process,
But that’s how we build relationships that can weather a storm.
You can’t keep real peace.
You have to make it.