The question was once asked, “If you could choose what you want most, what would you ask for?” The most common answer was “Peace.” That sense that “all is well.”
We want peace in our marriages and families, at school and work, in our neighborhoods and cities, and in our country and world. But instead we have broken marriages, splintered families, and fractured relationships. You would hope that our military might, advances in medicine, vast learning, technological savvy, and the strength of our democracy could bring us peace. But the incidences of anxiety, depression, and hatred in our society scream otherwise. The “officers of the peace” with their “Peacemakers” are really no match for the wars in our schools, workplaces, and communities. Where are we to find peace?
If you’re a Christ-follower, the Holy Spirit wants to bear His fruit of peace in you! (Gal 5:16-25) And one aspect of His peace is relational peace. Way too often in a relationship, we say or do something that just obliterates the peace. (Don’t ask me how I know!) That’s when the Holy Spirit goes to work to bring peace to that broken relationship. What does that look like?
Do you sense God leading you to humble yourself and go to that person with whom you’re at odds? to attempt to make things right and mend the relationship? to seek peace with the person? That prompting is the Holy Spirit at work. And if you are obedient to His leading, He will bear His fruit of peace in you.
Alternatively, have you had the realization that you needed to humble yourself, go, and attempt to make things right… and you did not do it? That was the Holy Spirit prompting you. And you did not follow His leading. That could be why you are not experiencing personal peace. He is grieved that you have not followed His leading to restore relational peace, so He has withheld personal peace from you.
So, friends, let’s keep in step with the Spirit to bear His fruit of peace in our relationships!