Blessed are the Peacemakers

I've been thinking a lot about peace lately. My life is often stressful (usually by my own making, to be honest. I don't think I know how to function without feeling some amount of stress in my life) and lately, it's been a little overwhelming. It's a bit of a crazy semester, and I honestly don't know how I'm going to get everything done that is required of me - let alone the things I WANT to do!

So, peace is something that I want in my life. The ability to, in the midst of all the craziness and business, just feel at peace, instead of panic or crippling stress. The very beginning of the year, as I was pondering what I wanted to focus on learning this year, kind of what I wanted the theme to be, peace came to mind. As things go kind of crazy and messy, within the first two weeks of school, I felt buoyed up by the fact that Heavenly Father, beforehand, prepped me. He knew that I would need, and crave, peace.

Fun fact about me: when I'm with my friends, I LOVE to push their buttons. For example, one of my roommates last semester would have this little glare that usually just made me bust up laughing. So, I would make it my goal to say something sassy or do something that would make her glare. Another roommate, I just LOVED to get her riled up. I never wanted to get her full-blown mad, because that's just mean, but I loved just irritating her with little tiny things. More than once, though, I pushed to far, didn't stop when I should have, and caused contention to exist in the apartment. I love to be sassy and sarcastic. With that, though, comes the danger of driving away peace.

Today, in my scripture reading, I came across 3 Nephi 12:9. This is when Christ is visiting the Nephites, and he gives a sermon similar to the sermon on the mount. He says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."

I crave peace, but I often am not a peacemaker. I often incite contention instead of driving it away. In the chapter just earlier, Christ says, "he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention..." (3 Nephi 11:29).

Now, I'm not saying that I'm of the devil or anything. Sometimes we, as humans, just get a little bit carried away, but I just want to point out what these two verses teach, when put together. Contention=Satan. Peace=God. When we have the spirit of contention about us, we are following after the desires of the adversary. This is completely contrary to our nature as children of God. That's why, when we peacemakers, is says that we will be called the children of God. Because God is the author of peace, and it is by following our nature - as His divine children - that we can be peacemakers. We are called His children because we are following His design, we are following His character, and we are trying to be like Him.

So, to all of you reading this, I would just like to invite you strive to bring a little bit more peace into the lives of those around you. I'm super grateful for those in my life who have been peacemakers. They have helped to bring an added measure of the spirit into my life. In this world to tumult and chaos, we need a little bit more peace, and we all need to put forth just a little more effort to help bring that peace. We need a little less contention, a little less judgement, and a lot more peace.