Peace with Oneself, Others, and God

My pastor's sermon at church this morning was one of my favorites that I have heard him deliver.  (I talk about my favorite sermon of his in my post here.)  It was entitled, "It Doesn't Have to be That Way."  The pastor's point was that we don't have to be at war with ourselves, we don't have to be at war with each other, and we don't have to be at war with God.  This was relevant to me this week, for I was having a few days when I was remembering my bad social experiences in the past, and I was thinking to myself: "Man, it is not possible for me to be at peace with most human beings!"  Remember Nate Fisher's desire on Six Feet Under to be at peace with a woman?  Well, that's how I feel about the vast bulk of humanity!

As I think about my pastor's sermon, I don't recall what specifically he recommended that people should do to be at peace with themselves, each other, and God.  He told a story about a guy who was depressed and went to church, and going to church reminded this guy that he belonged to God and that he didn't have to handle his problems alone.  I suppose that this is true in my life, in a sense.  Whenever I feel internal desolation, I pray more, and that helps me.  While I still may have a problem being at peace with myself, with many others, and with God, I'd be worse off not praying through my problems, than I would be praying through them.  That's just my opinion.

A lot of what my pastor was focusing on was attitude.  I should be at peace with myself because God loves me.  I should be at peace with God because God loves me.  I don't remember what attitude he said we should have to be at peace with other people.  Perhaps I'll get a copy of the CD for this sermon so that I can listen to it again.