Sabbath Devotional: Peace is Possible

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”

Our theology values relationships so much that we want those relationships to be eternal with the whole human family. Considering this, it makes sense that peacemakers are so cherished to Heavenly Parents. 

But in practice, peace is one of the hardest human conditions to achieve. I like to think of peacemaking as an act of resistance to the cruelty and chaos of the world.

These are the top four things I believe are required for peacemaking:

#1- You have to believe that achieving peace is possible.  

#2- You have to be willing to explore in what ways YOU are wrong. Not the other people.  YOU.  It’s a “Lord, is it I?” mentality.  It’s a requirement for getting out of gridlock. 

#3- When tensions are high, you have to hold yourself (or your side) to an even higher standard.  This is the only way to stop the cycle of collusion. I often tell my kids I don't care who started it, I just want you to be the one to stop it. Stop giving people reasons to continue feeling the way they do about you.

#4- Underlying concerns must be addressed.  Getting stuck in proving who is “right” might be a natural human tendency, but it creates an environment where resentments can fester. 

In Elder Stevenson’s October 2025 General Conference talk about peacemaking, he outlined three spheres where we work towards peace.  I love the way he organized this.  Peace starts in our hearts; we practice it in our homes; and then we outreach it to our communities. 

As much as I would love to deep dive on how to apply all four of my requirements in all three realms with you, I want to share just a few stories, examples and suggestions. 

I have two children, who for years, did not get along.  I’m not talking about the occasional scuffle.  Their personalities clashed and they were mean about it. I still cry remembering how someone I love so much could be so mean to someone else I love so much.  And let me just describe the typical scene.  Tensions would simmer, and I would encourage them to work it out, and then it just became a power play, and finally after I would leave, the words would come out fierce.  I’m not talking about a three-year-old who can’t express their emotions and they just say, “I hate you.”  I’m talking about clear expressions of hatred. And then as the parent, I would come in and say who was right and who was wrong and try to punish and shame the child I felt was mean.  And then it would repeat.  

And then I found a book called Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings, How to Stop the Fighting and Raise Friends for Life.  It gave me a different framework to operate in.  And let me tell you, it was counter intuitive, and so hard, and it felt so time consuming, but over time it has really helped.  The framework was to address the concerns of each person. Separately first and then together, we would have to sit down, and I had to get to the root of their concerns. And then we had to find creative solutions that would satisfy both people’s concerns.  And I couldn't just stand there as an authority figure and say, “Your concerns actually don't matter, let's just cater to the person I think is right.” Over time I learned that unless the concerns of both people were addressed, the tensions and the resentments would never actually go away.  

I find that in my home when presented with conflict that seems intractable, the most helpful question I can ask is, “How can we make this work for both of us?” 

I think this has great implications for society at large. 

Our culture has elevated debate to unhealthy levels.  Because it is so easy to find whatever ‘facts’ will hold your opinion to be true, we have gotten so good at debating and looking credible.  But debate is not the pinnacle of peacemaking.  Debate does not teach us to address the concerns of other people.  Debate is designed to humiliate.  It’s designed to burn bridges. Debate locks us into binary thinking. The more we try to be right the more we destroy our relationships. We need to be so much better at addressing the concerns of other people, even if we don’t agree with their version of truth.  Sometimes addressing the concerns of others is simply building up trust that has collapsed from falsehoods. Building up trust is different than truth smacking people over the head. 

I find the biggest obstacle to peace in our polarized country right now is the phenomenon that we have two different realities and sets of facts, depending on who you listen to.  It is very disorienting. And highly concerning. This feels like a new phenomenon, but the more I look at history, the more I see this as a pattern.  It happened in the Book of Mormon. It is super common leading up to wars, and during wars. Post truth was all over the rise of communism.  In history we see patterns of people who lie for power, or create or exaggerate false narratives about people they perceive as “other.” Lies erode peace. And when people feel like truth is impossible to find, the liars win.  But don't forget that true peacemaking searches for truth AND addresses concerns of others.

Coming back to my #3 requirement, hold the utmost of high standards for your side. Whatever you think other people should do, make sure you actually hold your side to the same standards, or higher.  Something I do frequently when I read the news, is I literally switch out the names of the people in the headlines.  I will read a headline or an article and have a reaction to it.  And then I swap names or issues, and I see if my reaction is any different. That helps me see if I am letting the people on my side justify something that I would never tolerate if it came from the other side.  We must never give in to the instinct to diminish or hide the harm or corruption of our own side just because we think the other side is worse. 

Arthur Brooks recently said, “Moral courage isn’t standing up for what you believe is right.  Moral courage is standing up to those with whom you agree on behalf of those you do not agree with.”  I suggest spending a week where the only comments you make online are ones that hold your own side to higher scrutiny.  

Things could get worse in coming days.  The answer is still to hold fast to Jesus’s words and to be peacemakers.  We have to be stubborn for peace, even if our tensions become actual conflict. Remember that peacemaking is an act of resistance to heartbreaking events.  I testify that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. And He is worthy of our worship. 

Which of my four requirements speaks the most to you right now?  

How do you build peace in your heart? In your home? In your community?

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Image: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Brittany Icely is a nonpartisan project specialist at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.