RELATIONAL VIRTUE GROUP

Because I value others as those whom Christ created and redeemed, I choose to treat them as I would like to be treated.

 

How To Treat People

Peacemaker

Some people argue and fight. Jesus found ways to help rather than quarrel. I should avoid quarreling and help other people to get along.

I choose to treat others peacefully and to be a peacemaker.

 

Definition

Peacemaker related virtues: Balance, calming, contentment, gentle, moderation, trouble-stopper, racial equality, religious freedom, separation of church and state.

Peacemaker means: one who reconciles people, one who quiets the troublemakers, one who brings about a truce, a "trouble stopper".

 
Artwork Music

See flipchart

Click the picture below:

 

 

"I've Got Peace Like a River"

Student Life Applications

1. Girls are fighting over a backpack and both pulling in opposite directions, a student is handing another backpack to them so they will stop fighting.
2. Boys are fighting over a baseball cap and both pulling in opposite directions, a student is handing another cap to them so they will stop fighting.


 

Bible, E.G. White

James 3:17 Wisdom is peaceable
Romans 12:18 Live peacably with all men
1 Samuel 25:23, 24 When Abigail saw David, she hasted, And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be.
Isaiah 9:6 Unto us a child is born,his name shall be called . . the Prince of Peace.
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peace makers: for they shall be called the children of God
Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek
Psalms 146:6 The Lord liftedth up the meek
Proverbs 12:20 "Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy."
I Timothy 6:11 O man of God, follow after . . . patience, meekness

“Christ's followers are sent to the world with the message of peace. Whoever, by the quiet, unconscious influence of a holy life, shall reveal the love of Christ; whoever, by word or deed, shall lead another to renounce sin and yield his heart to God, is a peacemaker.” MB 28
"He who has the meek and lowly spirit of Christ will be a peacemaker..” SJ 62 (Story of Jesus, 1896)
Let love soften your words and give tone to your actions, and you will find a change in those with whom you associate. There will be peace, union, and harmony, instead of strife, jealousy, and discord. Let love and tenderness be exercised, especially in your family, and you will receive a blessing.” 2T 439
“Our characters must be molded in harmony with His character, our wills must be surrendered to His will. Then we shall work together without a thought of collision.” 8T 243
“True religion brings man into harmony with the laws of God, physical, mental, and moral. It teaches self-control, serenity, temperance.” CED 68

 

Reinforcing Stories

Teaching Your Children Values, p. 76, by Linda and Richard Eyre
Great Stories for Kids IV, p. 136, by Jerry Thomas
Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories I, p. 21; II, pp. 108, 114 by Arthur S. Maxwell
"The Peacemaker", Treasury of Devotional Aids for Home and School
June 22, September 23, October 3, Sure as the Dawn by Mansell and Mansell

 

Student Activities

Role-play: peacemaker between two factors in society.
 

Links to the Curriculum
PE: We play to win but with Jesus in our hearts we can remain peaceful and promote goodwill.
Social Studies: 1945 Axis made a peace treaty with allies. So Abigail made treaty with David.
 

Resources


The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Teaching Your Children Values, by Linda and Richard Eyre, Simon & Schuster, 1993
Great Stories for Kids IV, by Jerry Thomas, PPPA, 1999
Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories, by Arthur S. Maxwell, R&H. 1964
Invisible Princess by Raith Ringgold
Treasury of Devotional Aids for Home and School by Department of Education of General Conference of SDA, 1951
Sure as the Dawn by Mansell and Mansell, R&H, 1953

A Statement on Peace
One of the great political and ethical issues of our day is the question of war and peace. It is both complicated and convoluted. Despair hovers around us. Millions expect a nuclear holocaust without the basic hope of afterlife or eternal life.
Today there is a new situation, unparalled in history. Human beings have developed the means of humanity's own destruction, means that are becoming more and more "effective" and "perfected"—although these are hardly the right words. Since World War II, civilians are no longer just occasionally or incidentally harmed; they have become the target.
Christians believe that war is the result of sin. Since the Fall of Man, strife has been a perennial fact of human existence. "Satan delights in war. . . . It is his object to incite nations to war against one another."—The Great Controversy, p. 589. It is a diversionary tactic to interfere with the gospel task. While global conflict has been prevented during the past forty years, there have been perhaps 150 wars between nations and within nations, with millions perishing in these conflicts.
Today virtually every government claims it is working for disarmament and peace. Often the known facts appear to point in a different direction. Nations spend a huge portion of their financial resources to stockpile nuclear and other war materials, sufficient to destroy civilization as it is known today. News reports focus on the millions of men and women and children who suffer and die in wars and civil unrest and have to live in squalor and poverty. The arms race, with its colossal waste of human funds and resources, is one of the most obvious obscenities of our day.
It is therefore right and proper for Christians to promote peace. The Seventh-day Adventist Church urges every nation to beat its swords into plowshares" and its "spears into pruninghooks" (Isa. 2:4). The church's Bible-based Fundamental Belief No. 7 states that men and women were "created for the glory of God" and were "called to love Him and one another, and to care for their environment," not to destroy or hurt one another. Christ Himself said, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matt. 5:9)
While peace cannot be found in official church pronouncements, the authentic Christian church is to work for peace between the first and second advents of Christ. However, hope in the Second Coming must not live in a social vacuum. The Adventist hope must manifest and translate itself into deep concern for the well-being of every member of the human family. True, Christian action today and tomorrow will not of itself usher in the coming kingdom of peace; God alone brings this kingdom by the return of His son.
In a world filled with hate and struggle, a world of ideological strife and of military conflicts, Seventh-day Adventists desire to be known as peacemakers and work for worldwide justice and peace under Christ as the head of a new humanity.

This public statement was released by the General Conference
president, Neal C. Wilson, after consultation with the 16 world vice
presidents of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, on June 27, 1985, at
the General Conference session in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Evaluation

Primary:
Tell or write two ways that show that God is a peacemaker.
Tell or write about a time when you saw someone show peacemaking.
Tell or write about when you showed peacemaking like God would do.
Tell or write about when you saw the hurt and unhappiness when someone was not a peacemaker,
How do you think God feels when He sees people who are peacemakers?
How do you feel when you are a peacemaker?
Tell two ways that you can show peacemaking.
What makes you want to be a peacemaker?
What is the opposite of peacemaking? Who makes us act that way?
Finish the sentence: We can be a peacemaker when we..........

Middle:
Why does God care if I am a peacemaker?
What difference does it make whether I am a peacemakeror not?
What effect would it have on my future if I did not choose to be a peacemaker?
How would people treat me differently if I did or didn’t choose to be a peacemaker?
How would I feel about myself if I did or did not choose to be a peacemaker?
Give some reasons why you think it is best to be a peacemaker. Why would someone do differently?
What makes choosing to be a peacemaker better than the opposite?
List some ways that a person might be a peacemaker without anyone noticing?
List 3 situations where a person could be a peacemaker in his work, home, or at the shopping mall.
Is it possible for a person to get better at being a peacemaker? Explain.
Can you think of someone who seems good at being a peacemaker? What makes them better at it?
How could you learn to be better at being a peacemaker?
Do you like to join in when people are being a peacemaker? How have you joined in?

High school:
Would you practice peacemaking if no one was checking on you? Your parents, school, or the law?
What is the alternative to a peacemaker and what do you see as the results of that choice?
Would you recognize it if someone was not fully a peacemaker? How?
Would you keep quiet if someone paid you a lot of money not to be a peacemaker?
Are you proud to be a peacemaker and willing to tell others how you feel?
If someone in a group spoke out against peacemaking would you speak up to give the other side?
Are you willing to put some money toward supporting a peacemaker in your city, class, work?
Can you say that being a peacemaker has become a habit? How often are you that way?
What effect do you think peacemaking will have on your future life?
Do you see your family practicing peacemaking toward others? How about your church, city, or nation?
What do you think should be done to promote peacemaking in your family, friends, church, city, nation?
Does it make much difference if they are peacemakers or not?