Peace Keeper or Peace Killer?

Have you ever been reading along in a book, only to have a phrase or sentence seemingly leap off the page and convict your heart?

Hopefully that happens often when encountering the truths of the Bible, but last week it was another book that brought that about for me.

I have come to believe that the two most potent peace-killers are the need to be right and the need to assess blame. ~Donna Otto in Finding Your Purpose as Mom

How often, especially in my marriage relationship, do I feel the need to do one of those two things? Even worse, it is often over small, insignificant matters.

If I seek to have peace in my home, I should show grace as I interact with my family members. When we get lost following someone else's directions or an argument arises over what day we last had spaghetti for supper, there's no need for me to find fault or assert my own judgement as flawless.

Just as I often need their grace extended to me in my mistakes, so I must be willing to do the same for them in every circumstance, that our home might be filled with a spirit of love and peace.

photo courtesy public domain pictures