Pursuit of peace- with yourself (Reprint)

This is the Second of 3 parts. There is a Bible Study which goes with each post. Be sure to send your questions to PastorMac!

“Internal peace is a sense of wholeness, contentment, tranquility, order, rest and security.” Do you have this in your life? Most of us don’t. That’s ok. Peace with ourselves is a never ending process. The closer we get the better our life will be, but the closer we get, the more we will realize that we are not there yet. If we are totally honest about it we will get to the point where we will understand and admit that we can’t get there on our own. Thus the Bible teaches us that we need God in our lives to reach that point. In 1 John 3 we find this thought: peace is a by-product given by God to those who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, AND follow His commands. (Vs 21-24 emphasis added). In fact this idea is found in many places in Scripture- both Old Testament (Consider Isa. 26:3, 32:17, 48:18; along with Psalms 85:10 and 119:65) and New Testament (Consider 1 John 3 from above, or John 14:27; and 2 Thes. 3:16)

What I have come to understand over the last 25 years or so is that this process is a step by step process. I cannot reach my goal of peace with myself, if I have not made peace with God (that was pt. 1). Once I have made peace with God I can begin to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior because true obedience to His commands does not come while there is conflict between parties. Until I got to the point that I was able to accept His Lordship over me, and submit my life to His authority- willingly, I could not see the wisdom of His ways or understand how much He loves me and wanted to change me to know His peace in my life.

An additional thought: this is not an easy process, so don’t get frustrated. If you need examples of how hard this process is pick just about any Bible character. The Bible is full of stories from Apostles to prophets, and from Genesis to Peter’s letters of people struggling with themselves or with God.

It also follows that until each of us has worked through these two steps that we cannot truly be at peace with those around us. (More on that in part 3)

May each of you begin or continue on the path of faith knowledge that will bring you into peace with your Lord and yourself that you may become a beacon of peace and understanding to those around you.