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 ¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. ¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

 ¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Jesus once said that you harvest (i.e., reap) what you sow.  So, what are you sowing?  Are you sowing righteousness?  Do you even know how?

I’m not talking about your own righteousness, though it does play a role.  I am talking about others’.  After all, a harvest for a Christian speaks of more than just oneself, but speaks of those around you.  It speaks of the ideas and behavior you plant in other people’s minds.  When a missionary lives her life for others, teaching children of the poor and destitute how to read, her harvest consists of the children who later mature into God-believing, God-obeying, righteous adults.  What a harvest!  Or what about the stealth Christian who tries not to stand out at work, and in fact participates in the colorful jokes and conversations around the office… imagine what his harvest will be!

And then there are peacemakers, who sow in peace.  Who are these people? And what does their harvest look like?

The peacemaker, according to verse 13, acts in humility that comes from wisdom and understanding.  Now, some people appear as peacemakers, but are secretly hoping their efforts will serve to make them look good; remove the hope of advancement and peronsal gain from the picture, and such “peacemakers” mysteriously fade away.  Such people give off subtle queues to manipulate the situation around them, mention their accomplishments to all who will listen, and then just wait.  Sure, they appear humble and wise and knowing, but what is the harvest they are looking for?  And who do you suppose taught them how to sow advancement using the actions of a peacemaker?  It isn’t God, but the devil.

I identify with this scripture in uncomfortable ways.  I hope for advancement and praise in what I do, yet act as a peacemaker in the situations I come to.  Perhaps you do, too, and are worried that perhaps this scripture is talking about you.  Well, it could be, but not necessarily.

Being conscious of your impact on your surroundings is quite different than trying to manipulate them.  For example, I tend to think to about how everyone’s actions around me interact, and look for the patterns that reveal the wisest course of action.  As it would turn out, one of the human patterns in this world includes praise.  For a long time, I did nothing intentionally that could result in praise for myself, because I didn’t want good to come from my own evil… but you know what?  That, too is trick of the devil!  Getting me to stop doing those things God has told me to, by convincing me that I only want the recognition for it!  As it turns out, I know my own heart, and awareness of potential advancement and praise is a far cry from sowing it.  When I look inside myself, I find that I know the difference! How? Because I know which came to mind first! When peacemaking comes to mind first, and I realize that a simple act of kindness will bring a blessing from God to others, I do it.  When I get the insight that will help my team succeed in their jobs, I say it because they need me to.  When, in all this, I see the people around me watching and become aware that they might praise me for my role, I tell Satan to get behind me, because I won’t let him rob me or this other person of a blessing… and if I have to lose my own blessing because I am being “secretly selfish” in my supposed “wisdom”, I still want the man or woman I help to receive theirs.  So now, I continue in my actions, and pray for them and myself.  And God will bless me as he chooses.  And you know how God blesses me?  I’m serious here… He keeps me from getting recognition!  I get sick on days when people are being called to the front of the room.  I get thanked in private when no one else is around.  My presentation gets broken because someone forgets to move a file.  God appears to remove my stumbling block when I am in danger of having a fat head, because a harvest of righteousness is more important to me than any envy or selfish ambition that I might also have in mind.  I must say it’s disappointing when God does that, but it is also a relief because He loves me enough to help me sow righteousness.

I don’t know what your difficulties are, but God will meet you where you are at.  He might change who or what you are, but He will help you within your shell, because He loves you, and wants you to trust Him.  Act in such trust, act in the wisdom that is from Him and your harvest will be one of righteousness.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 8:04 am and is filed under Whatever, Devotional Notes, Walking with God, Righteousness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.