I opened the Christmas card and read, “May the peace of Christmas fill your heart and your home.” I stood and pondered the thought. The angels proclaimed, “Peace on Earth’ when Jesus was born. Yet today we wonder, is peace possible?

We all need two kinds of peace in our lives: inner peace as well as peace with others.

Inner peace begins with a relationship with God as we focus on his strength and love filling us. We can exchange our weakness for his strength in any area of life. Your own inner peace hinges on your trust in God today.

If anxiety spills over, choose to trust God. Choose to draw on his patience and wisdom each step of the way. He will guide you through the maze of life if you ask him to. Choosing to trust God will take you down the road to inner peace.

Peace with others begins as we understand that God has called us to be peacemakers in our world. Is there somewhere you can be a peacemaker this Christmas? Not simply a peacekeeper but a peacemaker!

Is there an invitation that needs to be extended to smooth over a fractured family relationship? Is there an apology to be made or a silence to be broken? Don’t miss the blessing God promises as you respond to his call to be a peacemaker this Christmas.

You can help bring peace to our world, one heart at a time.

Father God,
Make me an instrument of your peace. 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; 
Where there is injury, pardon; 
Where there is doubt, faith; 
Where there is despair, hope; 
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

Divine Master, 
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; 
to be understood as to understand; 
to be loved as to love with all my soul;

For it is in giving that we receive; 
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; 
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 
Amen.
(Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)

Throughout This Day: Take your peace to the next level by:

  1. Taking some specific time with God to tell him where you want to trust him more.
  2. Reaching out in kindness to someone with whom your relationship feels tense.


Tags: Advent 2020 Daily Devotional Matthew 5
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