For these past two months, I’ve watched our Bible-based convention from home for the third straight year. It was faith-strengthening, encouraging, upbuilding, etc. With another convention in the books, I feel it is best to take a little break from my usual health and wellness posts and dedicate this week’s post to the “Pursue Peace” Convention. We all took something from this convention and here are 4 steps we must live by in maintaining peace in our various relationships.
Focus on our Good Qualities
Because we are imperfect, it could be so easy for us to focus on our negative qualities. But if we strive to focus on the positives of each other, we would achieve unity and peace. Most of us have a human tendency to talk negatively about one another to other people. However, we were reminded through these online discourses to confront that person we have a personal problem directly. It could be a messy situation when that person finds out others are gossiping about them. So we all must make a habit of speaking positively about each other to avoid disrupting, unnecessary conflicts.
Strive to Keep the Peace in the Family
This convention examined all aspects of how we can promote peace. It discussed how we maintain peace within ourselves, our friends, and our relationship with Jehovah. However, one of the most important relationships we must maintain peace is with our family members. Because we’ve known these people our whole lives, it could be so easy for peace to be wrecked. Nobody knows you better than your mother, father, sister, brother, etc.
However, we can still maintain peace with each other by keeping the lines of communication open. Husbands and wives could work effectively as a team by continuing to keep Jehovah and his Word, the Bible in their marriage. Parents and children could show each other love and respect by being quick to apologize when we have hurt each other. Children must treat their parents with respect.
Freely Forgive One Another
Another aspect of maintaining peace in our relationships is being freely forgiving of one another. We must be willing to forgive our trespasses. A chance to forgive is a chance to imitate Jehovah and his son, Jesus. If someone has hurt us deeply, try praying for that person. Proverbs 19:11 says that is beauty to overlook an offense. As imperfect humans, we all make mistakes, whether they’re big or small. So instead of harboring resentment towards each other, we must be forgiving one another freely.
Don’t be Too Proud to Apologize
I’m sorry- those are humbling words we must utter. Those words are humbling because they could be difficult for us to say. But these two words must be said for us to heal the wounds of a fractured relationship. These words help repair a relationship between a husband and a wife, a brother and a sister, etc. Apologizing to someone means not being too proud to admit you’re wrong. It means making peace with our brothers and sisters. That’s more important than deciding who’s right and who’s wrong in a disagreement.
Maintaining peace within ourselves, our families, our friends, and with Jehovah is not easy in this world, but it could be done. There were so many more gems from this convention that I also could’ve talked about. But I’ve pinpointed these in particular because we need these reminders from time to time in our lives. One day, we will be truly saying the words, “Peace at Last” if we work on maintaining it in our relationships with each other.
What part or parts of the “Pursue Peace” Convention stood out to you? How did you like the dramatizations? Share your thoughts about this event in the comments section below. As always, be sure to like or share this post with the next person you want to make peace with.
