HOW TO BUILD A BETTER LIFE
January 18 & 19, 2025 // Pastor Mike Berry
1. IN ORDER TO BE A
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:17–18, NIV
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
Matthew 5:23–24, NIV
2. IN ORDER TO BE A PEACEMAKER, ASK GOD FOR
“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:7, ESV
3. IN ORDER TO BE A
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:3–5, NIV
4. IN ORDER TO BE A
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,”
James 1:19, NIV
5. IN ORDER TO BE A PEACEMAKER, YOU MUST ALWAYS SPEAK THE
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ….”
Ephesians 4:14–16, NIV
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Ephesians 4:29, NIV
6. IN ORDER TO BE A PEACEMAKER, YOU MUST ALWAYS FIX THE
“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”
Colossians 3:8, NIV
7. IN ORDER TO BE A PEACEMAKER, YOU MUST ALWAYS FOCUS ON
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us….”
2 Corinthians 5:18–20, NIV
Action Steps:
How can you do a better job of speaking the truth in love? What are some areas where you can grow in fixing the problem and not blaming others? What are the relationships in your life that you know need reconciliation? Where do you know you need to make the first move this week?