“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

How many adults have said to their children, “Just give me some peace?!?! What they probably mean is they want silence and absence of conflict. But peace is so much more than that. Jesus did not come so we would merely stop fighting. Jesus came to reconcile us back to God. Jesus is reconciliation; He is the Prince of Peace! True peace means reconciliation.

There are so many levels of peace and its counterpart: National Peace vs. Civil War/World War; Neighborhood Peace vs. Hate Crimes and Gangs; Family Peace vs. Family Disruption, Separation, and Divorce; Personal Peace vs. Anxiety.

One challenge to long-lasting peace is that we do not take it far enough. We may agree to stop the fighting, but we do not work toward actual reconciliation. We may build a fence to keep out the problems, but we do not work toward establishing a mutually beneficial neighborhood. We may tolerate our disagreeable family members, but we do not do the work of understanding them. We may take anxiety medication to calm our heart and mind, but we do not seek “…the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, (that) will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

Another challenge to peace is that it requires at least two sides to get along—your side and the “other” side, and we cannot control the “other” side. Paul recognizes this when he tells the Romans “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18).

True peace, then is illusive. Like love and joy, the first two attributes we discussed, true peace is only possible for us humans through the work of the Holy Spirit; in fact, it is one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.

So, what can we do to make peace, to achieve the blessing of Matthew 5:9?

1. It all starts with our personal relationship with God. We must be fully reconciled to God. That means we regularly confess our sins to Him, or in other words, agree with Him about our thoughts, words, and actions. It means that we regularly seek His forgiveness and strive to obey Him. It means that we receive His forgiveness and His love, and that we are always thankful. And the good news is that Jesus has already made peace with us. “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

• We must not so easily take offence, we must not hold grudges, and we must forgive those who do harm to us. Okay, this is hard. But we must remember that no one has more undeservedly been attacked than Jesus—both when He walked on the earth as a human, and even now with our ongoing disobedience. He was physically attacked, verbally attacked. When his name is taken in vain, it is hurtful to him. But with all that, Jesus forgives us; and if He can forgive us, we should be able to forgive those who harm us. (And if we don’t forgive others, we can hardly expect Him to forgive us (see Matthew 6:14-15)!) We are not expected to condone the offensive behavior, and the perpetrators are not expected to get away without consequences. But our hearts must forgive. “It (love) does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5). “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32).

• Promote unity rather than division. Do not do anything to foster antagonism between other parties. Do not take sides, do not spread gossip or anything negative about others. Instead, let your words and actions be positive and useful for building up the Kingdom. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

God possesses all His attributes all the time. He is the God of love, joy, and peace. When we strive for these qualities or attributes in ourselves, we will find that they work together to support each other. If your goal is to love others, you will find joy and peace. If you desire true joy, you will experience love and peace. And if you are a peacemaker, you will also be filled with love and joy. As Matthew 5:9 promises, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Children of God.” The rewards are both earthly and eternal.

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

In Christ,

Judy