Peace

I confess, I can let my emotions rule me in some VERY negative ways; thus, making it VERY difficult for me to live in peace with others. This is completely counter to what Paul states in Colossians 3:15, “let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.”

The word “rule” is translated “umpire” in the Greek. Christ’s peace needs to be the umpire of each and every decision that believers make. The heart in both the Old and New Testament meant the core of one’s being.  The heart was the seat of a person’s will or decision making. This means that my heart and each individual believer’s heart (will, decisions) needs to be at peace for the corporate body to be at peace. Oh, how this is easier said than done!

Where is Christ (judging/umpiring) calling balls and strikes in your relationships? When I lack peace in relationships, I am reminded that I cannot change the other person; however, God most certainly can and will change me (if I allow Him). When I have a disquieted spirit (lack of peace) in my relationships, I know that is when I should be the most still. That is when I should be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger” (James 1:19). Oh how often I get that wrong! I am the opposite! I flail and flounder. I get ridiculously angry and hostile. My tongue becomes an agent of death rather than an agent of life.

I want Christ’s peace more than anything in this world. The world truly cannot give the peace that Christ gives. When I do not have Christ’s peace, I (and my relationships and thus the Body as whole) do not do well! This is a process and ALL processes take time. The more I/we allow Christ’s peace to call balls, strikes and outs, the more at peace we will live with Him and each other. Only a peaceful person can be patient! The one thing the Christmas season is not short on is decision making and patience. May Christ’s peace rule in our individual hearts as we live in community with others.

Father God, thank You for Jesus! Jesus, thank You for leaving Your peace with us! Thank You Holy Spirit for helping us to live out that peace and for the peace that You produce in and through us. Thank You Holy Trinity that Your Peace is what umpires each decision we make! Father, forgive us for the times we try to find peace in our own strength. Lord God, I ask that the peace of Your presence be upon this reader today! In Jesus’s Name I pray, Amen.