To want to live in God's peace is a part of seeking to find God's will, I believe. We want the peace of God in our hearts with the sense of security, wholeness, and love of God that goes with that.
But I think we too often want just a singular, individual peace, when surely we should be looking for it in community with each other in Jesus.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace, Paul "wrote" to the Colossians. There are times when we can find God's will and his peace in seclusion, but normally, I believe, God wants us to learn how to live in his will, finding his peace in community.
This involves a whole host of things, such as encouraging each other, praying for one another, confessing sins to another, and so on as we read in the New Testament, all in the love of Christ which we give and receive from each other.
And it's not like we arrive, and that's it. It's continual, we must continue on in this way, learning more and more what it means to live in God's will, together, as we seek to follow Christ in mission to the world.
This has helped me in my life. Though I'm still working on what all this means as well as how it is worked out in life. What about you?
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Sorry; I meant to link to it but haven't yet... obviously...
And singular, individual peace (the way we often want it) is not always in harmony with community peace. Therein lies a struggle.
i guess right now i would say that the best i know to share God's peace is to love one another and love your neighbor as yourself and love your enemies with the love that God gives. The mystery of the power of God's love.
and i agree with the continuality of it all...following God...praying, listening moment by moment,. i often run ahead of God and trip up and fall on my face. then i get back in line, where i belong, following God...he has it "all" figured out. He has the plan, the map, the view down the road. Continual surrender to His lead is not optional. i think it was interesting in mr rogers, if you ever saw him on television, he considered everyone that watched to be his neighbor and talked to them in love...like he really cared about them. that is interesting to me how many different ways God will use people, because that was a scheduled time of tv and was certainly not a moment by moment thing...but his life was. we are all in different places doing different things in different ways meeting with others in the world. God can continually use us because we continually follow.
I have kids at home. When they are squabbling, it really bothers me. But when they practice kindness and forgiveness, it fills me up with joy.
I suppose it wouldn't be too different with our heavenly Father. The rivalries that we cling to must really stink. But I'll bet his heart sings when he sees us putting one another before ourselves.
Thanks, Rachel.
L.L., Yes. I guess our peace is to be more community oriented.
But there are times when it may seem to go against community when really it may not be. I think there has to be a forthright dealing with sin in grace, both as to ourselves, and in love towards a fallen brother or sister. Of course this differs depending on the situation and everything.
But that's a good point. Our individual peace must never be factored apart from the community's peace.
Nancy, I like your point here. And the thought that God can continually use us as we continue to follow. Following Christ, by grace no matter what has been on my mind some today.
Craver, Great point. And this really plays out in so many ways. One way I'm thinking of now is to look at oneself as the chief of sinners, so that we look differently at what we perceive as sin in another. Not to water it down, but to see it from an altogether different angle.
And yes, community does depend on getting along in the love of God, well. And that love is certainly multifaceted, so that real love from God is not afraid to tell the truth in that love.
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