~My Be"atitude"~

The Beatitudes
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all
kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because
great is your reward in heaven.

"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:1-16

My sister Angela is so funny when she says to my niece, "Don't take that 'tude with me!" She is referring to attitude, and usually an unpleasant or defiant attitude coming from my niece. Sometimes she says it to me, too! So how's my 'tude? Maybe I should be asking more frequently how is my Beatitude?

This weekend I went to a retreat and attended a peacemaking seminar presented by David Cox. He used the book Peacemaker by Ken Sande and the principles of Peacemaker Ministries. This seminar was so beneficial and I believe the information I learned will be used by God to alter my behavior and change the way I view and handle conflict.

I believe I am a pretty assertive and confrontational person, and I have never thought of that as bad. Through this training I learned that it is not a bad thing to confront people, but I did learn several things about restoration and reconcilliation of relationships that I never thought about.

In the Bible you have Creation, the Fall, and Redemption. It is the same in our relationships. We have relationships created with others, there will be conflict and falls in relationships due to each person being fallible, and redemption, restoration, and reconcilliation needs to be attempted in order to glorify God.

The Holy Spirit convicted me this weekend in ways I need to change the ways I handle conflict and also validated some of my beliefs and behaviors related to confrontation and restoration that I already try to practice. Here are the principles of The Peacemaker's Pledge. I encourage anyone seeking to glorify Christ more in their relationships attend this training.

A Commitment to Biblical Conflict Resolution

As people reconciled to God by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we believe that we are called to respond to conflict in a way that is remarkably different from the way the world deals with conflict. We also believe that conflict provides opportunities to glorify God, serve other people, and grow to be like Christ. Therefore, in response to God's love and in reliance on his grace, we commit ourselves to respond to conflict according to the following principles:

Glorify God — Instead of focusing on our own desires or dwelling on what others may do, we will rejoice in the Lord and bring him praise by depending on his forgiveness, wisdom, power, and love, as we seek to faithfully obey his commands and maintain a loving, merciful, and forgiving attitude.

Get the Log out of Your Eye — Instead of blaming others for a conflict or resisting correction, we will trust in God's mercy and take responsibility for our own contribution to conflicts—confessing our sins to those we have wronged, asking God to help us change any attitudes and habits that lead to conflict, and seeking to repair any harm we have caused.

Gently Restore — Instead of pretending that conflict doesn't exist or talking about others behind their backs, we will overlook minor offenses or we will talk personally and graciously with those whose offenses seem too serious to overlook, seeking to restore them rather than condemn them. When a conflict with a Christian brother or sister cannot be resolved in private, we will ask others in the body of Christ to help us settle the matter in a biblical manner.

Go and be reconciled — Instead of accepting premature compromise or allowing relationships to wither, we will actively pursue genuine peace and reconciliation—forgiving others as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us, and seeking just and mutually beneficial solutions to our differences.6
By God's grace, we will apply these principles as a matter of stewardship, realizing that conflict is an assignment, not an accident. We will remember that success in God's eyes is not a matter of specific results, but of faithful, dependent obedience. And we will pray that our service as peacemakers will bring praise to our Lord and lead others to know His infinite love.

God was sweet to me this weekend through this time of retreat, fellowship with old and new friends, new revelation through His word and His ordained teachers, and some pretty hilarious top ten worthy moments and quotes. More to come if I can remember them all, and hopefully pictures, too! If no one has told you this today, "I Love You" ~Your Heavenly Father