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3rd Fruit of the Spirit:
Peace
The fruit of the Spirit which are the effects the Holy Spirit has on the life of a believer oftentimes generally relate to our relationships with others. It’s not enough to be kind in one’s heart that one must show kindness to others. Peace is no exception for the Biblical peace is more than the cessation of hostilities. It brings and should end with harmony, safety, friendliness, and relational tranquility. Humans are incapable of creating such conditions, only God can establish peaceful foundation within the heart of mankind. The fruit of the Spirit of peace also provides the inner peace of mind and contentment found by living God’s way of life which can result in peaceful situations. The Hebrew word for “peace” is “shalom” which means not just freedom from trouble but everything that makes for a man’s highest good (Barclay’s Daily Study Bible). The fruit of the Spirit includes a peace that goes beyond that of salvation, but a sweet relationship between God, humanity oneself. As Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” This means if we maintain a steadfast of mind, then we will be keep in perfect peace because we are putting our confidence, faith and trusts in the Lord.
The peace of God begins with God’s making peace between Himself and mankind. A true state of peace requires the unity of at least two parties. It also requires sacrifice as self–ambition and self–interest is subordinated to the good of the relationship. The peace between men and God is no different, for God’s contribution was to send Jesus, the Prince of Peace according to Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Then He was to submit His life for humanity, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” Isaiah 53:5. Peace is more than the absence of war or something felt in the mind. It is a way of living life in a proper relationship between man and God, as well as man and man. One of the greatest human desires is for peace: peace between nations, peace between neighbors and peace within our own minds. The word Paul used for “peace” was the Greek word “Eirene”. This word includes the meaning “peace between individuals”. Peace includes a calm, harmonious absence of conflict that this world has never known. There may have been isolated times and places where conflict was halted for a time, but actual world peace has never been seen. Only God can create peace through the work of the Holy Spirit, therefore, no one accept Jesus’ can offer of peace.
Because, our natural self and will does not want it. Only God can lead us to want peace with Him; the Holy Spirit leads us to want Jesus and His message. Once the Spirit draws us, we believe in Jesus, and the peace comes. When two people are at peace with God, they will also be at peace with each other. Jesus told the seventy disciples, “But whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you” (Luke 10:5–6). If the owner of the home had peace with God, he would naturally be at peace with God's messenger. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Also, Romans 14:13–19 displays that those who value the kingdom of God will live in peace. And Ephesians 2:14 says, “For He (Jesus) Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation”. Peace is the opposite of James 4:1–4, which describes the cause of war. “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
God’s peace transcends earthly matters, as Philippians 4:4-7 illustrates. Believers are to be concerned or worried about anything, for God promises to guard and protect your hearts and minds. It is in this a peace which transcends all carnal and earthly understanding; in which coming from a worldly mindset such peace is incomprehensible. Its source is the Holy Spirit of God, whom the world neither sees nor knows. 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” (emphasis added throughout this verse). God’s perfect peace is one of those delightfully deep things of God that have not entered into any heart of humanity but are only spiritually discerned from the Holy Spirit. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). There are many peace treaties that have been broken because man believes he can make peace without the Spirit of God. In Jeremiah 8:11, we see that the practice of leaders proclaiming peace: “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.” The Bible is filled with verses that can bring peace in the middle of struggles, worries and fear. If we ask God, He promises us HIS peace“that passes understanding” (worldly knowledge). God wants you to have a life lived to the fullest and that includes being at peace.
We must believe that God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds during times of trouble. It is a peace unlike anything the world can give and is the antidote to fear and anxiety, all this has been proven throughout the Word of God. John 16:33 says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The true peace with God will overshadow any area of conflict or opposition brought into our life from any external or internal source. Because, the Spirit–filled Christian has a peace that is abundant, accessible in every situation, and unlike anything that the world has to offer. “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” (John 14:27). The alternative to being filled with the Spirit and His peace is to be filled with fear, with doubt, with uncertainty, or with dismay. It is much better to let the Spirit have absolute and total control, while performing His work of growing fruit to the glorify the Heavenly Father. Romans 8:6 explains, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” In other words, peace comes from setting your mind not on fleshly things because that will only lead to death, but to set the mind on the Spirit which produce life and peace. It’s only in this “perfect peace,” according to Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” That we will have sweet rest, as we allow the Spirit to develop fruit within us, we will have tangible and everlasting peace with God and each other.