A Prayer to Do the Right Thing

James 3.18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

So it is with my friend.

If ever there was a time to hope for peace in her family, it's at Christmas.

So she invites, and they don't come.

I asked her once why she keeps asking, keeps inviting, and her answer reminded me of the reaping and sowing principle we see throughout Scripture.

What you put in, you get back out, generally.

In her case, making peace available to her family, even when she knows they may not take it, is her part of the job.

Her door is open and the offer of peace is on the table.

She sows and hopes that one day she'll reap.

Maybe it'll be next Christmas, and maybe it won't.

Maybe each year she's planting a seed of peace that will grow until her family's hearts are open to reconciliation and forgiveness.

That's what she's praying for.

But if it never happens, she can rest in knowing that she's sown in faith and tended in prayer.

The rest is up to God.

James 3, 17-18 says in the message version, Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others.

It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings.

not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced.

You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.