What Does the Bible Say About Peace?
Peace is not just a quiet feeling we have within ourselves in a calm setting. It is a way of life. Peace is about trusting our lives to God. It is about accepting who and where we are and working with that. It is about accepting others and esteeming them as better than ourselves. Peace is about letting go of offenses and speaking the soft word that turns away wrath. We must actively seek and pursue peace in our lives.
No peace in wickedness:
“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 48:22)
Peace comes from loving God’s law:
“Great peace have those who love thy law; nothing can make them stumble.” (Psalm 119:165)
Through Jesus we have peace with God:
“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
We are also to be at peace with one another:
“Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (Mark 9:50)
Must pursue what makes peace:
“For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” (Romans 14:17-19)
Must be ruled by the Spirit, not the flesh:
“To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:6-8)
We must not let ourselves be troubled:
“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)
Tell God our needs and then trust Him:
“Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
We must maintain unity:
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)
Love creates peace:
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:12-15)
The application of God’s wisdom brings peace:
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18)
Peace is controlling the tongue and turning from evil:
“For he that would love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile; let him turn away from evil and do right; let him seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Peter 3:10-11)
We are to be at peace with everyone:
“Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)
Be diligent to be found at peace:
“But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2 Peter 3:13-14)
Quotations taken from The Revised Standard Version
Article by Julie. Photo by Nita on Pexels.com.
