speaking violence, speaking peace

I was thinking about the love of Christ, for to walk in peace, to walk non-violently, one must walk in love. It’s easy enough to say that I will walk in peace, that I will not cause physical harm to anyone else. Chances are, I will not be in a situation that I formerly would have considered a situation that calls for self-protection with violence. But as I worshipped tonight, God was showing me about what I write and what I speak—that I must start living non-violently in my everyday life, and for me, that means in my speaking and in my writing.

In my life, it has been words that I struggle against, other people’s words that would tear me down. And I think this would probably be true for anyone, that we all struggle with the words that others speak against us, our actions, our motives, our desires, our personalities our idiosyncrasies. Often the words are not directed at us personally, but we see ourselves on the other side of the critique, and we must struggle against those words if we want to remain true to who we really are. The masses speak discouragement, they speak hate, they speak into existence a rigid set of guidelines that we must follow to be accepted. The masses speak violence, and their voice extends into the deepest part of our beings and tears down who we might become in God.

I told God that I want to reject that movement of the masses—I do not want to be a part of that discouragement, I do not want to speak violence into another person with my own set of judgments, my own rigid guidelines. But it comes so naturally, it’s as if we are programmed to do so—to judge and to want others to abide by our guidelines so that we, our own person, can be validated. So I asked God to show me when it is that I speak or write from out of my “self” and not out of love. For only when I speak or write in love will I be able to do so in peace. I would like my writing, then, as much as I am able, to focus on, and examine the streams of peace that I find. I'm not sure how this will work, or what it will look like and I know that I can not ignore the bad, but that my efforts will follow after peace.

Ephesians 4:11 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Romans 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.