2009
Blessed Are the Peacemakers
July 2009

“Blessed Are the Peacemakers,” Friend, July 2009, 2–3

Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

By President Henry B. Eyring

First Counselor in the First Presidency

From an address given at Brigham Young University on February 6, 1994.

President Henry B. Eyring

When you look at your newspaper and your television, you don’t see much about peace. Every day the news is filled with violence across the world.

The Savior said, “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (3 Nephi 12:9).

When I read that as a boy, I wondered about the promise. It didn’t sound like anything very glorious. But I see now that the promise is both glorious and sure. Those who will have eternal life are the children of God.

I testify that God knows you. He cares about those around you, and He loves you. You are His disciple, and that makes you a light to people. When you act with faith to offer the gospel and peace to those around you, they will feel the light of the Savior. You will have pointed the way.

I testify to you that God lives; Jesus is the Christ. I feel His love for you. I know the Savior spoke the truth when He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Peacemaker Wanted!

Here’s a situation when a peacemaker is needed. Put the pictures in order from first to last to see how a child’s desire to be a peacemaker affected her family.

peacemaker activity

Illustrations by Beth Whittaker

A

B

C

D

Answer:

How We Got the Beatitudes

“Blessed are the peacemakers” is one of the teachings of Jesus called “the Beatitudes” (see Matthew 5:1–11). The Beatitudes are ways to live a happy life. Each one tells a certain blessing we receive when we follow a certain teaching. This is how we got the Beatitudes:

  1. One day a crowd of people was following Jesus. They had heard He could heal people and do other miracles. They wanted to hear Him teach.

  2. Jesus was near a hill, or mount. He walked a little way up the hillside and gave a talk, or sermon.

  3. In His sermon, Jesus taught the people how they should live so God could bless them. The word beatitude means “to be happy” or “to be blessed.”

  4. The talk Jesus gave that day is called the Sermon on the Mount. After He was resurrected, Jesus gave a similar sermon to the people in the Americas when He visited them (see 3 Nephi 12:3–11).

  • The right order is C, D, A, B.

Prince of Peace, by Simon Dewey; Sermon on the Mount, by Harry Anderson