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John 14:27 - “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”​Troubled hearts can be found everywhere, even in the Christian marriage and family. So many marriages and families are daily in great conflict and turmoil.Why is this?As Christians we should strive to obtain the peace of God. We pray for peace to come to our heart, our marriage, and our family. Then, we wait for it to drop out of the sky, but I find that God's Word teaches me to pursue peace. Especially when it comes to having God’s peace in relationships. Even more so if those relationships are marriage and family relationships. 1 Peter 3:11 tells us to “seek peace, and ensue it”. The word “seek” here means to search in order to find. In other words, you have an objective in your search. The objective is peace in your marriage and peace in your family. The word “ensue” here means to run after a thing, to pursue after. You are pursuing God’s peace for your marriage and family. Conflict can come, and most likely will come in a marriage and family. But will you be the one who seeks and ensues God’s peace among the conflict?Here are a few helpful tips:• Pray for it.• By faith embrace it. • Initiate peace.Be willing to be the one who seeks forgiveness and reconciliation of the conflict. A husband once asked me why it seems like he was always the first in his marriage to say, “I am sorry”. I told him to think of it this way; You are being like Christ. When Jesus died on the cross was He saying I am sorry for His sins or your sins? It is always Christ-like to initiate the process of forgiveness.• Don’t allow bitter feelings to stay in your heart long enough to take root. See Hebrews 12:15.Can you think of anymore helpful ways to seek peace and ensue it in the marriage and family relationships?Archives