Suggested Reading: Psalm 34:11-14

God has called you to peace.—I Corinthians 7:15

Peace must be a hot commodity in the Christian life because the devil sure does everything and whatever he can to keep us from enjoying it. Everything he can to put a wall—not just a fence—between peace and us. If he even senses we are at peace, enjoying a peaceful day or time in life, at peace in our relationships, at peace with ourselves, having peace in our home, family, marriage, workplace, even our church, he will bring something to disrupt that peace, steal and destroy the peace we are having. He is definitely anti-peace and harmony.

God’s call to peace is not only an exhortation but command. God has called us to live differently than the world lives. People of the world can tolerate disharmony, some even thrive off of fighting and endless battles, marriages that are filled with strife and families steeped in discord, relationships that are toxic and abusive, workplaces that are fueled by and reek of strife and disharmony, but not you; not those who belong to the Lord and enjoy an intimate relationship with him. God’s people are people who love peace and pursue it.  

Jesus exuded peace. His peace was powerful and drew others to him. Much like you and I are drawn to others who radiate peace. We not only enjoy their company but feel they are like therapy to the soul. And that is what they found with Christ. The peace he possessed set the mood, the tone for conversation, and each day’s activity.  

Paul was not just talking about the peace in marriage, but in every relationship and area of life. If you are an avid reader of the Book of Proverbs, no doubt you have read many of Solomon’s sayings that highlight a lifestyle of peace. Peace is where our emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual health not only begins but maintained. The Spirit of God and disharmony cannot coexist and when we are doing our best to make ourselves satisfied and content in a discontent and unpeaceful situation those little bells and butterflies that warn of inner, outward, and spiritual unwellness will be going off and fluttering constantly. They are God’s inner compass which don’t sit well with disharmony.

I read a wonderful quote recently by Dorothy Thompson which said, “Peace has to be created in order to be maintained.” She is right!  Peace does not just appear or happen by itself it must be created and sought after, become our highest goal and aim. It will never be achieved through passivity or doing nothing about the situation. And the peace of God can only come through relationship with him, sensitivity to, and allowing his Spirit to abide where we reside, rule our inner being and set the tone for our environments. We might create a new mantra that says, “When the Spirit of God is happy and at peace then everyone is happy and at peace!”

God is love and he is also the author of peace and he just as he calls and commands you to love, he calls and commands you to peace. There is no need to fear accepting God’s call to peace, not even the disturbance that comes before it since it becomes the very thing and condition that moves us from unrest, un-peacefulness and disharmony to the blessed state and high call of peace. Let’s Pray,

Dear God, grant us the desire to attain peace and courage to pursue it.