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You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.  – Matthew 5:9 (MSG)

You have probably read this verse before in your Bible. You will remember it as “blessed are the peacemakers” from the Beatitudes. I love this translation from The Message. We are blessed when we make peace…when we help people cooperate instead of compete. If you are a leader this is a great reminder. Creating peace is hard but rewarding work. When we work for it Jesus said we would be blessed. The amazing thing about creating peace is very often have to move through conflict to arrive at peace. Conflict and peace have a strange relationship and most of the time without conflict peace will never materialize in our churches…our small groups…our families…our businesses. So the question for those of us who lead is simple. Are we helping people cooperate instead of competing? Are we willing to pay the price in order to create peace?