Look at this scenario of God's own people, pictured by the prophet Jeremiah in the Bible:

"Every one deals falsely. And they have healed the wound of My people slightly, saying, `Peace, peace,' but there is no peace." 1

When we try forcing peace on others, we find it does not work.

We have tried achieving our own peace through self-effort, going for the almighty dollar (or franc, marks, yen, rubbles even) But Jeremiah says the reason there was no peace in his day, was that "Every one is greedy for gain." 2

Alternative religious teachings encourage us to be `gods' ourselves. But a rational inspection of these religions show self-centeredness and lack of real peace.

A better way

There is a better way.

John, the apostle of Jesus Christ, recalled Christ's words:

"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, nor let it be fearful." 3
Christ has promised his own peace to those who follow him. In fact, he has promised it as a gift, not something we have to work for!

Hold on now, how do I get this peace?

The apostle Paul put it this way in one of his letters: "He Himself is our peace." 4

"But," you ask, "how can I have peace, if Christ is himself peace? Do I meditate until the Christ-spirit is miraculously in me? Or do I `get' Christ by eating the communion wafer?"

My friends found out! The way to have peace is to admit our total lack in ourselves. Admit our need. ASK Christ take over our lives and wait to see the wonderful things he will do! FIND OUT how HE RUNS to those who trudge wearily to Him.

"If we admit to our sins, He is faithful and righteous. He forgives our sins. He cleans out the old evil desires." 5

No easy panacea

Christ is not some easy panacea, just a way to avoid all problems. He is the real source of peace in the midst of our troubles.

Thus, the way to peace involves:

  1. Admitting that we have no peace.
  2. Admitting that we are not trusting God for peace. (Not trusting God with our lives is in itself sin. One need not be a thief, a murderer or even a liar to be a sinner. All one has to do to be a sinner is to claim, "I don't need God")
  3. Trusting God to forgive us.
  4. Knowing that once we admit our sins, Jesus will come into our lives and start cleaning out the old garbage.
  5. Turning to Him every time we knowingly sin, and know that he will forgive us.
  6. Allowing Christ to remove the rebelliousness from our lives.
  7. Being open and obedient to God's leading in our lives.

Jesus says,

"Live in Me, and I in you. The branch cannot live fully by itself, unless it is part of the vine. Neither can you have life except you live in Me." 6

What is peace? Peace is Jesus, the source of peace, living in us. Jesus overcoming fear and worry - that is peace.

quotes marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright (c) 1960, 1973. La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation. 1 Jeremiah 6: 13, 14 (NASB) return to text
2 Jeremiah 6: 14 (NASB) return to text
3John 14:27 (NASB) return to text
4Ephesians 2: 14 (NASB) return to text
51 John 1:9, paraphrased return to text
6 John 15:4, paraphrased return to text
copyright notice: copyright (c) Rick Galbraith, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: revised, 1998
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