What great reminders these words are of the position we have been blessed within God’s family and the joy, hope and peace that brings to our lives. I love how much it means to Paul, that his siblings in Christ are doing well, the constant place they have in his prayers, and how much he encourages them.

Back in 2012, Bill Gates declared the book The Better Angels of Our Nature, by Steven Pinker as the most important book he had ever read. In it, Pinker argues that war and violence are declining and that our world is now more peaceful than ever in recorded history. I have read the book, and Pinker marshals an impressive array of statistics in 800+ pages.  His notion has almost become an accepted viewpoint.