Pastor, more than ever, the world needs you to be a peacemaker. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9 NIV).

Being a peacemaker requires intentionality and God’s wisdom. 

Someone who is wise understands that you can’t compromise the truth. When James says real wisdom is “pure first of all,” he’s talking about always telling the truth (James 3:17 GNT). 

Proverbs 15:26 says, “The Lord . . . delights in pure words” (NLT).

God’s wisdom is pure, truthful, and full of integrity.

When you apply God’s wisdom to your relationships, you’re going to be truthful. You’re not going to lie to people. You’re not going to cheat them, trick them, mislead them, or take advantage of them. You will, above all else, tell the truth. A wise person uses pure and truthful words in their relationships.

Why do you think God mentions purity first in James 3:17? Because all relationships are built on trust, and all trust is built on truth. You can’t have trust without truth. 

You probably don’t know who Dr. Leonarde Keeler is, but you know what he co-invented: the polygraph.

After testing more than 25,000 people on the lie detector, Dr. Keeler concluded that every human being is by nature dishonest. Of course, Christians know this already because we know how sin has corrupted our nature.

Every one of us is naturally dishonest. But God doesn’t want us to stay that way. “God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love” (Ephesians 4:15 The Message).

Read that again: God wants you to know the truth and then tell the truth in love.

When you practice lovingly speaking the truth, you will be at peace in your relationships and model peace for the world.