“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
–John 14:27
If you and I are promised peace as our inheritance as Christ-followers, how come so many Christians today aren’t experiencing peace in their daily lives?
It’s because we’re looking to the wrong things to give us peace!
It’s actually kind of funny when you think about it. So many people, when they’re searching for peace, turn to so many things that ultimately don’t fulfill them.
They try the peace of escape, the peace of drugs or alcohol, the peace of entertainment, the peace of pleasure. And why don’t these things ever fulfill? Because the peace they give is temporary! It’s fleeting! Only Jesus Christ can give true, lasting peace.
I mean, think about it. Jesus was the only one who experienced peace in the middle of a stormy, raging sea. He was the only one who was calm, cool, and collected when he and his disciples had a shortage of food for the multitude. Jesus was the one who wasn’t frightened by demon-possessed people. And he was the one who was at peace and in total control through his own arrest, trial, and horrifically painful execution!
So if Jesus exhibited complete and total peace during even the most stressful and extreme of circumstances, why would you and I look anywhere else for peace in our own lives?
Here’s the bottom line: We must let the Prince of Peace rule in our hearts before we can know his peace.
So let me ask you, are there areas in your life where you’re not letting the Prince of Peace rule? Because the more you are like Jesus Christ in every area of your life, the more you will experience his true, lasting, and fulfilling peace.
WE MUST LET THE PRINCE OF PEACE RULE IN OUR HEARTS BEFORE WE CAN KNOW HIS PEACE.
