“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Rom. 12:18.
History is replete with the story of human conflict, violence and war. Even times of relative peace seem in the long-run to have been nothing more than the preparation period for the next war. But it’s not that the human heart doesn’t long for peace or that many individuals haven’t devoted themselves to trying to mediate conflicts and promote peace. The Bible accurately described the human condition in Rom. 3:17: “The way of peace they have not known.” The Bible explains how our first parents rejected God’s peaceful way and were deceived into accepting the deadly, destructive way foisted on humanity by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. And ever since, violence and war has been the result of this wrong, selfish way of thinking.
The Bible tells us that Satan, humanity’s greatest adversary, currently rules this world, and broadcasts his attitudes of hate and violence into the minds of men. His influence helps amplify our natural selfishness to a fevered pitch as described by James. “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” James 4:1. But Jesus Christ desires the opposite attitude for His followers: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” Matt. 5:9.
God has lived the way of peace for eternity, and He wants His children to learn that way to enjoy its benefits and to become like Him. What do we need to learn to have peace? “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble” Psa. 119:165. God’s law is the basis of all right relationships, showing us how to love God and love our fellow humans. Being a peacemaker requires not just thinking, but acting. And the letter and spirit of God’s law shows us how to act in a way that produces peace. Paul described some of the elements of this way of peace in his letter to the Romans, in Rom. 12:18 “Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.”
FURTHER READING:
“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” James. 3:17-18.
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2:3-5.
DECLARATION:
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your timely word of admonition. I declare that the peace of God that passes human understanding garrison my heart and mind in the name of Jesus. I live in peace within me and pursue peace with all men. I proclaim that God’s hand is strong and mighty upon me. I’m am enabled to see the invisible and do the impossible in the name of Jesus, amen.
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Ezek. 17:1-24. Ezek. 18:1-32. Ezek. 19:1-14. Ezek. 20:1-49.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
“You Will Find Peace Not In Escaping Your Problems, But In Confronting them Courageously. You Will Find Peace Not In Denial, But In Victory.”
The Fortress Int’l Church, 2 Floor 10 Coker Road, Opposite Chicken Republic Ilupeju Lagos, Nigeria. http://www.thefortresschurch.com. email: info@thefortresschurch.com.
