Peace like a river.

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last few days. I hope you enjoy it. 

Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.

                                                                 Matthew 5:9 NKJV (emphasis, mine)

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

                                                                 Luke 14:27 NKJV (emphasis, mine)

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;

and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

                                                                 Rom. 5:1-5 NKJV (emphasis, mine)

            So what? Why does that matter and what difference does it make to my life right now? What difference does this instruction matter to me and why should I pay attention to it? This is a good question, and, like every question, it needs an answer. Is living according to the Peace of Christ essential, does considering myself a Christian require that I live peacefully with others?  

 

            In the context of mental health, these two passages and the above questions are critical to Christian maturity and living obediently according to the promises of God in a world sick with mental illnesses.

            There is a need for peace in this world. Obviously. There is a need for peace in our own lives. Issues like anxiety, depression, and heartache are all around us, even within the Christian church these issues are clear and present. This is simply because we fail to live obediently according to God’s word. The first passage tells us that we have peace. We have Christ’s peace. There is no need for anything else outside of the peace of Christ. The peace of Christ is perfectly sufficient for everything we may need. There is nothing else we need; there is nothing else which can replace it, there is nothing better than it. Since there is nothing else can replace or is better than it, we need to acquaint ourselves with it. We need to cling to it and live according to its pronouncements, its promises, and its power.  

            The issue for me in this is that peace, needs to be a marker of who we are. We are sons of God. That is who we are. When we are peacemakers, we will be known as, we will be seen as God’s children. If we wish to be known, to be seen as children of God rather than children of Men, we must live by peace.  That is, we must live with peace as our identifying principle.

The second passage is how we are to live as Christians. We are to live peacefully. We are to live with the promise of peace guarding and living in our lives. We must read this as instruction. We must read this as a manual for our lives. If we live according to Christ as the Lord of our life, we must live with this in our hearts every day.

The last passage is the most critical for Christians today, or rather, for people who profess themselves to be Christians. If I am a Christian, I will live my life with the peace of God and with being at peace with God. Through Christ, I am brought into a peaceful relationship with God. When I have peace with God, I live peacefully with others. When I do not have peace with God, I cannot live at peace with God, or with others. If I call myself a Christian, if I choose to be identified as a Christian, I must live peacefully with those around me, whether I agree with them, or not. Not only all of that, but also if I choose to be called a Christian, how I behave under duress will identify me as such (or not) more effectively than anything I may say or believe otherwise.

I want you to think about peace and how it changes lives, communities, and countries for Christ. I want to leave you with a final challenge;

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends.

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

These things I command you, that you love one another.”

                                                                                    John 15:9-17 NKJV

            I hope you will live peacefully. I hope you will love others and therefore fulfill the commandments of Christ. 

Thank you,