八福
从你的内心开始
经文
雅各书三1-18
1我的弟兄们，不要多人作师傅，因为晓得我们要受更重的判断。
2原来我们在许多事上都有过失；若有人在话语上没有过失，他就是完全人，也能勒住自己的全身。
3我们若把嚼环放在马嘴里，叫他顺服，就能调动他的全身。
4看哪，船只虽然甚大，又被大风催逼，只用小小的舵，就随着掌舵的意思转动。
5这样，舌头在百体里也是最小的，却能说大话。
看哪，最小的火能点着最大的树林。
6舌头就是火，在我们百体中，舌头是个罪恶的世界，能污秽全身，也能把生命的轮子点起来，并且是从地狱里点着的。
7各类的走兽，飞禽，昆虫，水族，本来都可以制伏，也已经被人制伏了；
8惟独舌头没有人能制伏，是不止息的恶物，满了害死人的毒气。
9我们用舌头颂赞那为主、为父的，又用舌头咒诅那照着神形像被造的人；
10颂赞和咒诅从一个口里出来！我的弟兄们，这是不应当的！
11泉源从一个眼里能发出甜苦两样的水吗？
12我的弟兄们，无花果树能生橄榄吗？葡萄树能结无花果吗？咸水里也不能发出甜水来。
13你们中间谁是有智慧有见识的呢？他就当在智慧的温柔上显出他的善行来。
14你们心里若怀着苦毒的嫉妒和纷争，就不可自夸，也不可说谎话抵挡真道。
15这样的智慧不是从上头来的，乃是属地的，属情欲的，属鬼魔的。
16在何处有嫉妒、纷争，就在何处有扰乱和各样的坏事。
17惟独从上头来的智慧，先是清洁，后是和平，温良柔顺，满有怜悯，多结善果，没有偏见，没有假冒。
18并且使人和平的，是用和平所栽种的义果。
信息分享
我们要继续来研讨和睦这个话题：我们自己内心先有平安，才能够成为一个使人和睦的人。有一位心理医生正在给一个内心充满冲突的人看病，这时电话响起，虽然他已经指示职员不要打扰他，但是来电还是被转进他的诊室来，他因此生气的咒骂起来。他的行为不但失去了自己内心的平和，也失去了那个病人。因为那病人看在眼内，明白到医生除了作口头建议外，不能再给他甚么切实的帮助。
事实上，当我们失去与别人相处的和平时，这往往就是我们自己内在冲突的投射。在远东有一家教会门上刻着这么一句话：「让每个基督徒由自己内心开始，展开合一的工作。」你的内心就是开始的地方。正如中国的古语所说：「修身便能齐家；齐家便能平天下。」
英国有一位著名的和平运动者说自己致力推动和平，却写了一封尖刻的信给一位国会议员，结果那封信被报纸刊登了出来，让他在和平的宣扬工作上蒙上了污点。社会上的人评论他说：「这个人的和平观念需要全面的检讨，因为他言行不一。」有一位宣教士说：「神与我的关系并不和谐，我们似乎有不同的目标；也因此我和别人的关系也变得越来越困难。」当然，我们与神的关系不和谐时，跟别人也不可能和谐。
「在自己内心开展合一的工作」
进深研究
约十六25-33；路一78-79；罗八6，十四17
1.和平源自什么？
2.为什么我们可以鼓起勇气？
祈祷
天父，我渴望与您建立起和谐的关系，好让我能成为别人的榜样。求您使我成为一个和平以及能够给人带来和平的人。奉耶稣的名祈求，阿们。
The Beatitudes
Let every Christian begin...
Bible reading:
James 3:1-18
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.
5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
Message
We continue making the point that we cannot be peacemakers until we first find peace within ourselves. A psychiatrist was interviewing a man full of conflicts. In the middle of the interview the telephone rang, and because the receptionist had put a call through to him when he had given instructions not to be disturbed, the psychiatrist swore. He lost his peace and he lost his patient, for the patient saw that he had little to give except verbal advice.
The fact is that when we lose our peace with others, it is usually the projection of an inner conflict within ourselves. A church in the Far East has this statement engraved over the door: "Let every Christian begin the work of union within himself." This is the place to begin - within yourself. For, as the Chinese saying puts it: "He who has peace in himself has peace in the family, he who has peace in the family has peace in the world."
A prominent member of a peace movement in the British Isles who said he was dedicated to peace wrote a stinging letter to a member of the British Parliament which was published in the press. As a result, his advocacy of peace was blurred. People said: "This man's idea of peace needs an overhaul. It is simply verbal, and not vital." A missionary said: "God and I are not at peace; we seem to be at cross purposes. And my relationships with others are becoming more and more difficult." Of course - for when we are not in harmony with God, then we are not in harmony with ourselves or others.
"Begin the work of union within yourself"
Prayer
O Father, I long to become so harmonised with You that my life becomes an example of harmony to others. Make me a peaceful and peaceable person. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
Further study
John 16:25-33
Luke 1:78-79
Romans 8:6; 14:17
1. What does peace spring from?
2. Why can we take heart?
本文英文版权属 CWR 所有，承蒙允准刊载。
背景音乐版权属 赞美之泉音乐事工 所有，承蒙允准使用。