Devotions: The Key To Peace

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Colossians 3:15 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Yesterday, I talked about the peace of God. It is a peace not of circumstance but of relationship. We can only have His peace if we have a relationship with Him, if we know Him intimately. That peace is to rule our hearts. We are to submit to God’s peace, to have a spirit of His peace. We are to be at peace with those around us, both to keep and make it. He is the one who makes it happen in us, but we must seek it. We are united to other believers through the blood of Jesus and that bond of unity demands that we be at peace with each other. What does it tell the world if we are bitter, jealous, and always quarreling with each other? Is that a fair representation of Christ? No. The key to staying in the bond of peace, aside from a genuine relationship with God, is gratitude. Gratitude is the opposite of pride, greed and jealousy. It is humble, generous and unconcerned with self. Those in the church we see quarreling and causing problems are either prideful (thinking they are better than others and so need to prove they are right), greedy (wanting something for selfish gain), jealous (feeling inferior and wanting the status another has), or a combination of the three. Those things are not loving or godly. But gratitude humbly views others as more important. It doesn’t argue because it thinks it is right or better. It doesn’t selfishly work for its own gain. And because it sees others as more important, it is not conceited, wishing to put others down so that it feels better about self. It simply doesn’t think about self at all. It knows that it does not deserve any good thing it gets, so it is thankful for everything, and happy for those who are blessed as well. Because of all these things, it helps to build the unity of the body through peace. How is your peace-making? Is your heart grateful?