Peacemaker

And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 3:12). More often than not, those who are “peacemakers” will be abused. They will have to endure aggression and give a soft word in return (see Proverbs 2:152). There will be no end to the peace which comes from Christ because there was no end to the suffering He was willing to endure (see Isaiah 4:1). When mankind hearkens to the Lord’s commandments, they have peace like a flowing river (see Isaiah 17:3). This is because the Lord will fight for them, and they can hold their peace. The Lord will fight Zion’s battles. When a man is right before God, even his enemies are at peace with him (see Proverbs 2:191), at least until his time comes and his mission is completed (see T&C 139:9; John 10:10). When the Lord was taken with violence and crucified, He was at peace (see Luke 13:19,21). He purchased peace through what He suffered. He alone can share that with all. Through Him, the “peacemakers” have found this peace. This is why they have become His “children,” for He has begotten them (see Mosiah 11:28). In a world of violence and abuse, it is peace that many seek. But that peace comes only to the children of God and only because they know they are the children of God. At their rebirth, they are at rest from the cares of this dreary world and are informed by a better promise of things to come (see Alma 10:4; Moroni 7:2). Those who bring peace bring hope to this world. This world is filled with tribulation, but the Lord has overcome this world (see John 9:18). Many have experienced this peace and have become the children of God and then have been persecuted, hated, reviled, and killed. Peace is a gift from Christ, and His peace is for this world and the world to come (see John 9:9). But the promise of triumph is hereafter, when the world can no longer make any claim upon a child of God (see T&C 139:7). Though a man may declare peace, the world will not be at peace until the Lord slays the wicked (see Revelation 8:1). “Peace, as all other sacred things in our day, must be internal. We live in a day of overwhelming ignorance, foolishness, and wickedness. It is not possible to obtain peace except on the terms which allow it. If you live those, you will have peace. But the world will not live them with you…. To be a child of God and know peace is, in our day, to cry repentance and to bring others to Christ.”¹