'Peace' spiritually refers to the condition of the broad and beautiful heart that is able to love all people. Now let's look into how to make peace with all people.


First, We Must Be Careful with Words!

Suppose something bothers you at home or in your workplace. You may feel uncomfortable. Some of you may express the discomfort with words or actions. Others may hold the feeling in heart. The two cases yield totally different results. If you hold it in, it is like keeping a bottle of ink in your pocket, but if you express it with words or action, it is like you open the ink bottle and splatter the black ink around you. Then, it will have a bad influence on people around you.

Let's say you work with a leader in church. He seems to have opinions different from yours. If you complain about him and talk behind his back with other people who oppose him, it can become a synagogue of Satan. Later, everything will become like snares that cause disputes and arguments. It will also cause difficulties in the work of God.

Perhaps you may have agreed with those who measure, judge, and slander others in their own expressions of their thoughts, but not giving much thought to consequences. You may not have had evil intention, but it might be the case that the evil you have not cast off completely came out. Thus, Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear."

Therefore, to be a peacemaker, you should be careful with your words. That is, speak with words of goodness all the time, and do not listen to evil and untruthful words. But see and hear only goodness. Later, you can even lead other people to love and goodness. Then, you can become a peacemaker.


Second, We Must Serve Each Other!

The most common reason people break peace is that they seek their own benefit rather than seeking the benefit of others, and they insist on their own righteousness rather than understanding and embracing others. If you serve others with a humble heart, you will naturally make peace by sacrificing yourself, seeking others' benefits, and fulfilling what they need. Then, you cannot break peace.

'Service' is spiritually like a mother's serving her child. She sacrifices herself to take care of her child. She does not care for herself first. It is giving up oneself completely just as salt melts completely to enhance the flavor of food. In this kind of service, you put others before yourself, seek their benefits, and serve them. Then, you can make peace. Here, we should remember that we should serve each other.

Matthew 23:11 reads, "But the greatest among you shall be your servant." God wants leaders to show an example of service, and He also wants everybody to become the first one to serve others with heart.

God wants us to help and encourage each other to become a person after His heart and be loved by Him. When we believe and obey each other and march forward together with one heart, we can say we serve each other.

To cultivate this 'serving heart' in your heart, you should get rid of your 'self' first. Only when you cast off your 'self', the concept of what is 'yours', your greed, putting your family first, your personal opinions and self-righteousness can you consider and serve others in any kind of situation.

Some of you may serve others just because you know the truth and you know you have to serve them. In this case, you may keep your ill feeling within when you are bothered by something or someone. But, at some point you will change and it will burst out. Thus, you should break your 'self' completely and serve others from the depth of your heart.

If Jesus had not served us sincerely, He could not have taken the suffering of the cross. But His service was true, so He could give everything and even His life to save souls and finally died on the cross. We should also have this kind of true service in our heart, serve each other, and make perfect peace.


Third, We Must Embrace Everything with Love!

Moses, the leader of Exodus, and the Apostle Paul prayed for souls' salvation and even risked having their names blotted out from the Book of Life (Exodus 32:32; Romans 9:3). Deacon Stephen also prayed for the people who were stoning him and asked God not to hold their sin against them while he was dying (Acts 7:60).

They prayed with earnest love for those who were rejected by God. When you have such perfect love to give up even your life, you can achieve the heart to embrace everything. With this love, you will not have anything related to your own 'self' and will not expect anything in return although you give everything. You will just feel happy to give.

What should we do for our brothers and sisters who are pressing on together toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God? Philippians 2:4 says, "Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." James 2:15-16 reads, "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?"

The verses tell us that we should love them not words of the tongue but in deeds and truth. The members in the Early Church looked after and helped one another with one heart and one will in love (Acts 4:32). Here, to achieve such love to embrace everything, we should unchangingly hope for others with faith.

Although some of them give you a hard time and break your heart, you should endure with love and unchangingly believe that they will do well. You should not judge or condemn them nor feel uncomfortable. You should hope that they will become better. When you embrace everything with such true love, you can perfectly achieve the heart of peace that God wants (1 Corinthians 13:7).