Last week I asked if violence changes a person; and If that is true does training for violence change us? You can read last weeks post here .
It is paramount to know what we are conditioning ourselves to be. As a Christian, there are clear guidelines for us to follow. First we believe that God is the judge and He provides perfect justice for all.
“To do evil is like sport to a fool, But a man of understanding has wisdom.” Proverbs 10:23 NKJV
It is easy to react out of emotion, to seek justice and enact vengeance, but it is hard to understand what drives people to do violence. At the very center of the issue is our own selfishness.
Is violence excusable when the motive behind it is good?
Does the end prove the means? No. How we get to where we are going is just as important as where we arrive at. Once we arrive at our destination in life we want to be able to live with who we have become?
It is easy to justify violence when we feel we have been wronged. To know that you are right in the eyes of others. If someone punches me I have the right to retaliate. Yet the truth is that through my retaliation nothing was gained. The wrong I incurred still exists, the wounds are still there.
[tweetthis remove_hidden_hashtags=”true” remove_hidden_urls=”true”]My justices is selfish and one-sided[/tweetthis]
The cost of judgement weighs upon the issuer. We are only as good as our worst moments
Does violence solve a problem?
No. Violence has yet to produce a lasting solution to a problem.
In light of recent events has any violence changed the issues at hand? Are we any closer to closing the divide between our differences? What person has not been formed by the very hand of God, their very breath breathed into them by the Creator?
We are one race, there is no difference between men. What are red, blue, green, and yellow? They are all colors. Their differences do not cancel out their similarities.
The same is true of humans; no matter our heritage, creed, or race we are all still human. Which man was not created in the image of God? Who’s breath was not first God-breathed into him.
“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14
Does violence change a situation, a person?
Yes. Violence is an instigator, the fuel to flames burning inside a person, the catalyst to more violence.
How do we train for peace? It starts with the heart.
“It is well that we should understand this. We are to be first pure, then peaceable.” C.H. Spurgeon
Let’s look at a lesson we teach children. How do we teach them to deal with conflict? If someone picks on a child we tell them to find a teacher or adult, to walk away from the person picking on them. We say, “Don’t hit”, “Don’t bit”, “Don’t kick”.
At what point does it become okay to retaliate? When do we allow our kids to switch from seekers of peace to returners of violence.
When we live to give an eye for an eye eventually we are left with no one who can see.
Does training for violence invoke violence?
Yes. We are what we train to become. To become a musician I train as a musician. If we train and prepare to respond with violence to every wrong we incur we create no place for peace to reign.
Peace comes through forgiveness and understanding. Compassion and empathy towards another places peace before violence.
If I do not have peace in my life, then I must check to see if that area is submitted to the Lordship of Christ.
The peacemaker is not a resolver of mans conflicts, not world police, not sibling squabble squashers, not the solver of others problems, but conveyors of God’ love and restoring act to man.
If we do not practice forgiveness, understanding, compassion, and empathy towards others then all we will see is the continuation of this vicious circle of violence.
What do you thing?
Do you agree that training for violence invokes violence?
Is there a time you chose peace over retaliation?
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