For Reading and Meditation:
James 3:1-18
We continue making the point that we cannot be peacemakers until we first find peace within ourselves. A psychiatrist was interviewing a man full of conflicts. In the middle of the interview the telephone rang, and because the receptionist had put a call through to him when he had given instructions not to be disturbed, the psychiatrist swore. He lost his peace and he lost his patient, for the patient saw that he had little to give except verbal advice. The fact is that when we lose our peace with others, it is usually the projection of an inner conflict within ourselves. A church in the Far East has this statement engraved over the door: "Let every Christian begin the work of union within himself." This is the place to begin - within yourself. For, as the Chinese saying puts it: "He who has peace in himself has peace in the family; he who has peace in the family has peace in the world." A prominent member of a peace movement in the British Isles who said he was dedicated to peace wrote a stinging letter to a member of the British Parliament which was published in the press. As a result, his advocacy of peace was blurred. People said: "This man's idea of peace needs an overhaul. It is simply verbal, and not vital." A missionary said: "God and I are not at peace; we seem to be at cross purposes. And my relationships with others are becoming more and more difficult." Of course - for when we are not in harmony with God, then we are not in harmony with ourselves or others.
O Father, I long to become so harmonised with You that my life becomes an example of harmony to others. Make me a peaceful and peaceable person. For Jesus' sake. Amen.