Fruits of the Spirit: Peace

Galatians 5:22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

             The Greek word for peace is eirēnē, this means security, safety, prosperity, felicity; of the Messiah's peace - the way that leads to peace (salvation); of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is; the blessed state of devout and upright men after death.

            This peace is the assurance that we get when we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior. This peace is something the world chases after. Without this assurance, we have a lot of inner turmoil. Without this assurance, there is a war that rages within us. The world will look for this assurance and peace in many different places and they will never find it. That’s why it’s important for us to evangelize because we have the answer that the world needs.

 Ecclesiastes 3:11, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” (NLT)

             This inner turmoil and discontentment are created by the eternity in our hearts. There is this great website called Got Questions and this is how they define this verse.

 ‘In every human soul is a God-given awareness that there is “something more” than this transient world. And with that awareness of eternity comes a hope that we can one day find a fulfillment not afforded by the “vanity” in this world’

             This God-given awareness if not fulfilled will create a massive vacuum that cannot be fulfilled with the things of this world. This God-given awareness is fulfilled when we get born again and have the eternal one dwell within our hearts and His peace fills our souls.

Walking in Peace

            That is why Paul tells us in Philippians 4 to be anxious for nothing.

 Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

             Why should we be anxious for nothing? Because we have the Eternal One. The day we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior, He comes and dwells with us and His peace gives rest to our soul. And now our responsibility is to walk in peace; that is why this Philippian verse is important.

v.6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”

             Be anxious for nothing… He is not just telling us to not worry about anything for the sake of not worrying, but instead of worrying he is telling us to run to God. Another way of reading this verse is, “Instead of worrying, run to God.” Run to the creator of Heavens and Earth; run to who has all the answers and His peace, His eirēnē, security, safety, prosperity, felicity, will guard your hearts and mind.

 Psalms 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

             Many are the troubles of the righteous! The devil is out here seeking whom he may devour; and he will bring you problem after problem. That is the nature of living in this world. The coming of the problem should be expected. The question should never be, will problems come my way? The question is what I am going to do when the problem comes. Will I run to God or will I run to the things of this world. If I run to the things of the world, all I will get is a temporary solution. But when I run to God, He will deliver me out all my afflictions. When we put our faith in Jesus, He will deliver us from all our troubles. In the process of Jesus delivering us from all our troubles, His peace that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds. The key to walking in peace is having faith in Jesus. Having faith that He will deliver me out of my problems.

Peace is a Choice

 John 14:27, “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.”

             This is the same Greek word that we have been seeing. He left us His peace, and not as the world gives. The world gives you just enough so you can come back for more. Remember we get this peace when we accept Him as our Lord and savior. When He comes into our hearts, He comes with that peace. His peace is available to any Christian, but that Christian must choose to have faith in Christ.

            The enemy of peace is lack of knowledge. We get anxious, worried and scared because we do not know. For as long as the enemy gets you to focus on that, then he will win that battle. We must choose in that moment to focus on Jesus, who has all the answers. We must choose to have faith in Jesus.