CHRISTIAN PEACE There are certain qualities which should be found in the Christian's life if he is to live in the Spirit rather than the flesh. One of these is peace. It is the third quality re corded in Galatians 5:22, 23. Peace is sought in every conceivable way, yet it is as illusive as it is desirable. Through history's many wars we have seen just how transitory na tional or even personal tranquillity really is. One of the former heads of the Atomic Energy Commission once commented, "If anyone wants peace, he simply picked the wrong time in which to live!" The fact of the matter is, peace is not finding the right time to live nearly so much as it is finding the right way to live. Christian peace is certainly the unique gift of God which can op erate at any time and under any circumstances. The first question we might ask is, "What is peace?" The stand ard word in the original Greek for peace conveys much the same idea as our English word. From a nega tive standpoint, we could say that peace is the absence of conflict. If two nations are having a dispute, the conflict must stop before we have peace. If a husband and wife are fighting, peace comes only when the tension stops. We could also define peace in a positive manner and say it is harmony. An individual who is not fighting and living in conflict with God's will enjoys fellowship with Christ. He walks in harmony with his Savior and is at peace. Peace should not, however, be related to inactivity. Sometimes a person will say, "I want a little rest and peace." He may have confused the idea that peace suggests inac tivity; "getting away from it all."
The fact is that our environment and involvements do not neces sarily affect a peaceful state of mind. Analyze the things in your own life and see that rest may be one thing while true lasting peace is quite another. In a certain sense both secular and biblical peace are quite similar in our initial definition. Obviously, a person cannot have peace with God unless conflict is resolved. A person cannot experience true Christian peace unless conflicts in his life, including his relationships with others, are changed to pro vide desired harmony. This is a very general observation as it re lates to conflicts, tensions, and struggles. The second question is, "What are the sources of peace?" Basical ly, they are found in altering the circumstances which cause conflict. Let us treat this in a general sense now and later we will see in clear er light the uniqueness of God's peace. Generally speaking, then, peace is found in altering circum stances that cause conflict. Now here I have related peace to cir cumstances. For a general under standing of peace, we will allow this relationship to stand. Later, when we talk specifically about Christian peace, we will make a partial alteration. There are two sets of circumstances that are involved in this relationship with peace. First of all, peace is related to cir cumstances over which we have little or virtually no control. This, of course, is a source of frustration to many individuals. They long for peace, but since it is related to na tional conflict or circumstances be yond their control, they do not have peace and have no way of
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