Fake it until you make it? … Ah, I don’t think so!

Making peace with other people is very hard work.

It is humbling; it can be humiliating. Sometimes you just have to eat it, say you’re sorry and accept the fact that you might not get much in return.

Here’s what I’ve been pondering lately…

* Jesus is described as a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3).

* Jesus humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8).

* Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame (Heb.12:2).

But you know, when you think about it, being a peace-faker is hard, too. It takes a lot emotional energy to smile and wave or shake hands with someone at church when your heart may be hardened against that person.

“Continuing to function in a civil manner alongside a co-worker who has wronged you can feel like splitting rocks in a prison camp,” says Ken Sande.

Tip-toeing around while resentment boils beneath the surface can make you physically sick. And what do you get? The appearance of peace, not the reality.  Yuck… Who wants that?
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Hebrews 12:3 says, “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lost heart.”

Well, weary friends, God’s goal is peace.  Getting there may not look pretty.  But if you keep it you’ll likely be satisfied in the end, knowing that as far as it depended on you, you worked hard to live at peace with your fellow humans…