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Facets of Fruit: Peace What does it mean to have the peace of the Holy Spirit? Is it primarily internal or external? With others or just ourselves? Show Notes: This week we are talking about the facet of the fruit of the Spirit known as peace. On a basic level, peace is the opposite of war, fighting, or aggression. There are three facets of peace that we experience and can work out in our lives as believers. The first is peace with God. Romans 8:5-8 says, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” There we see those opposites played out. Prior to being saved and having the Spirit in us, we were enemies of God. After we are saved, the hostilities cease, and we have peace with God. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are no longer aggressors; we have peace. The second facet of peace that we have is peace within ourselves. Not only have we made peace with God, we are called heirs and sons of God. He gives us a seat at His table, prepares a place in Heaven for us, sends His Spirit to dwell within us, and works out His grand plan for history through us. When we are aware of these things and remember who God is—that He’s sovereign, powerful, knows everything, and more—we can have peace within our own hearts and minds. Fear and worry are like enemies in the battle plain of our minds. Before we are saved and before we have a strong grasp of who we are in Christ, we are unable to vanquish those enemies. But now, with our new selves and our minds being renewed in the knowledge of God, we have the power to smash those enemies into the dust a little more permanently. This peace is a work of partnership with the Holy Spirit. It is both a gift from God, as Paul prays for the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 3:16, “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way.” And it’s something that we must work for. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, “Do not be anxious 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 surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It is our job, by the power of the Spirit, to pray through our concerns with thanksgiving, and then God will give us His peace. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” By the power of the Holy Spirit, we trust, cast our anxieties, tell God everything, and then God brings His peace over us. Colossians 3:12-17 says, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with 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 one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” This brings us to the final type of peace that we can experience in this life: peace with other people, especially other believers. In this passage, we see that peace in our own hearts is tied with peace with other people. When we are forgiving and loving—two ingredients for peace with others—the next thing to do is let the peace of God rule in our hearts, to which we are called in one body. The two are integrally related. If we are at war within ourselves, not living according to what God says is true of us, we will be more likely to cause strife and trouble around us. When we are living out the truths of who God says we are, we are able to focus less on ourselves and see other people more through the lens God sees them through, which will cause compassion and love toward them. But it’s not just other believers with whom we can have some measure of peace. Romans 12:14-21 says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This gives passage gives us plenty of things to do, whether we’re being directly persecuted or not. If we aren’t, which is probably true of everyone listening, we can rejoice and weep with our neighbors (which requires knowing them well enough to know when they’re rejoicing or weeping, by the way). We can be humble, always kind no matter what, and never trying to get back at someone for something they did, whether intentionally or unintentionally. So let’s put all this together and come out with some pointers. There are three facets of peace that we can experience on earth by God’s grace and power. God’s peace with us is a complete reality that happens at the moment of salvation, and it is from this reality that the other two facets of peace are possible. The more we know and understand this reality of, first of all, how lost and opposed to God we were, and second, just how much it means for God to call us His friends, sons, and heirs, the more power we will have to forge lasting peace inside ourselves and in our relationships with others. So practical application step one is never stop learning and thinking about and reminding ourselves of how holy God is, how lost we were, and how far He came to rescue us. The second thing we should be doing regularly is evaluating state of our own hearts. Is there peace there? We have to be able to distinguish the type of peace, too. In regards to war, you can have “peace,” a cessation of active hostilities, for two different reasons. First is victory. If we are living out our identity in Christ well, there will be more moments of victory than active battle in our minds and hearts. The second reason is that we’ve stopped fighting. This could also be for two reasons: either we feel we can’t win and have stopped trying, or we have been winning and then became apathetic or careless or lazy. The enemy is perfectly happy to wait for us to forget how important it is to keep our eyes on Christ at all times because we had been doing it well for so long. That’s why it’s important to know the state of our own hearts and minds. Are we still doing battle? Are we striving for a conquering peace within ourselves? Or have we become apathetic or given up hope? I attended a conference this past Spring where Jeff Manion was speaking. He gave us a four-part journal exercise to do every day. Step one was gratitude, step two was checking in with your heart to see how your doing, step three was asking the Holy Spirit for help in whatever the day held and whatever was in your heart that day, and step four was to declare God’s identity for you over yourself. All of those steps have been very helpful in the last six months, but I especially want to highlight the heart-check idea. Having this journaling time where I have to ask myself how my own heart is has been very helpful in nipping negative thought patterns in the bud, before they can flower into downward spirals and turn into negative behaviors. Action step three from today is to check your relationships. Are you making peace or war? Is your tone and word choice meant to spark anger and frustration or convey love and hope? Do you seek to get back at people for things they’ve done or said, or do you try to see everyone the way God sees them and treat them with kindness and serve their needs? Remember that these things can’t come from our own brute force of will. We have to know who God is, who He says we are, and then see others the way He sees them. If you jump steps, you’ll only find yourself frustrated. Thanks for joining me on the podcast today. I hope you are encouraged to cultivate the facet of the fruit of the Spirit called peace in your life and relationships, and I hope you’ll join me next week when we will talk about patience.