A knight made his regular appearance before the king to give an account of his service. He said, “Sire, I have just returned from pillaging and plundering all of your enemies to the east!”

The king countered, “But I don’t have any enemies to the east!”

After an awkward pause, the knight replied, “Well, you do now!”

Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9). Yet all too often our blundering words and actions cause unnecessary conflict. We sometimes make enemies out of peaceful neighbors.

Let’s choose our battles wisely, and let us spend even more time trying to maintain peace and harmony.

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”—Galatians 6:10.