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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Dear Rev. Graham: My youth pastor preached recently on the positives and negatives of life and asked everyone to think of an example of living on the positive side of life. Is there a Bible verse that says something about this? — Y.G.

Dear Y.G.: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be known as a peacemaker? While life can be filled with negatives, for those who know the Lord and have a personal relationship with Him, there are opportunities to demonstrate the peace of God in the midst of trouble.
Isn’t it interesting to consider something like a simple battery that has power to illuminate a flashlight? The battery has a positive end, marked by a plus sign, and a negative end, marked with a minus sign. If we don’t put the correct end into the flashlight first, the battery will provide no power at all. Both the positive and negative connections must be made.
Faith in God is like a battery in that to tap into the power of God; we must be connected in the right way by loving and obeying Him and feeding on His Word. We must also love our neighbors as well. This is what pleases the Lord. Our personal faith in Christ is useless unless we also love others and do good toward them.
If we belong to Jesus, we have peace with God and the peace of God — and our lives will become more than a flash of momentary light. The Bible tells us to put aside the negative (works of darkness) and instead put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12), for His people are the light of the world, and this light is found in all that is good, right, and true (Ephesians 5:8-9).
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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)