Fruit of Peace_ 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit (4)
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May 26, 2019 |
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 Senior Pastor Rev. Jaerock Lee
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Gal. 5:22-23 -
Just as salt gives flavor and prevents rotting, God wants the believers to show grace and purify their neighbors and bear the fruit of peace. Let us delve into the 3rd fruit among the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit, peace.
1. Fruit of Peace
Romans 12:18 says, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." Hebrews 12:14 says, "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord."
Peace here refers to the heart with which we can yield to others even if we are right, and to be accepting and be OK with anything within the truth. It is to seek others' benefit and not to be biased. It is not to flaunt yourself and to have no conflict with anyone by not focusing on their shortcomings.
God's children should be at peace with everyone. It is all the more important to have peace in the church. Where peace is broken, God cannot work any longer, and the enemy devil will bring accusations. Even if we work hard and produce good results, we can't be commended if peace was broken in the process.
In Genesis 26, Isaac received God's blessing when he was living among the Philistines. The people there became jealous of him and stopped up his wells many times.
However, Isaac did not quarrel or fight. He just went to another location quietly and dug another well. When he pursued peace, God blessed him to get a well everywhere he went. The Philistines realized God was with him and would no longer confront him.
If Isaac quarreled or fought with them because he suffered injustice, he'd have had to leave the area. Even if you make a good, logical case in your argument, it wouldn't work for those who are already trying to argue with an evil intention. For this reason Isaac just yielded every time and bore the fruit of peace.
The same goes for us as well. God can lead us to prosperity in all things when we bear the fruit of peace.
2. To Bear the Fruit of Peace
1) Have Peace with God
What is the single most important thing to have peace with God? It is to have no barrier of sin.
If we walk in the Truth, we're at peace with God, and we're confident. Even though we're not perfect yet, as long as we're trying our best within our measure of faith, we can be at peace with God. If we bow before idols or fail to keep the Lord's Day just to have peace with unbelieving family members, it is creating a wall of sin before God, thereby breaking peace with Him.
God drives away our adversary the devil when we please God. He can change the mind of the evil ones so we can have peace with everyone (Prov. 16:7). Suppose you keep on trying your best but the other party keeps on breaking peace. In this case if you just keep on acting in truth, God will cause all things to work for good.
2) Have Peace with Yourself
In order for us to have peace with ourselves, we have to cast away all forms of evil and become holy. As long as we have evil in our heart, it will be agitated according to the situations. We can have peace in our heart when we choose the truth in any situation.
Some people try to walk in the truth in an effort to have peace with God, but they don't have true peace in them. Generally it is because of their self-righteousness and frameworks of personality that are not formed properly.
For example, you have no peace because you're bound by God's word too much. You don't practice the word with love for God but because you're afraid you might be punished if you don't. In this case, rather than focusing on the action, you should first try to cultivate love for God in your heart.
Also, you might not have peace with yourself because of pessimistic personality. You're trying to practice the truth, but you're not satisfied with yourself. You beat yourself up and make yourself suffer. In this case you need to become a spiritual child.
Those children who believe in the love of their parents, even if they've done something wrong, they do not hide but ask for forgiveness. Those who truly repented do not lose heart by criticizing themselves. Even if you face trials for your wrongdoings, they will turn to blessings if you pass them with joy and thanksgiving.
Therefore, you have to believe that God loves you and makes you perfect as long as you try to change yourself, even if you're not perfect. As we keep on storing up sincere heart and actions before God, we'll have peace with ourselves and confidence.
3) Have Peace with Everyone
In order to have peace with everyone, we have to sacrifice ourselves. Paul professed "I die daily." We must not insist on our things, our positions, or our way of doing things in order to have peace with everyone.
If we cultivate peace, we won't be unbecoming before others or try to boast of ourselves. We humble ourselves and serve others. We won't be partial or one-sided. We'll put ourselves in the shoes of others, and even if our opinions seem better, we are willing to go with other's opinions. However, advice and rebuke based on love is necessary for those who are bringing destruction upon themselves by committing sins.
To have peace with everyone we must not insist on our self-righteousness or frameworks. 'Frameworks' is your belief that you're right. It is formed based on your personality and tastes. Self-righteousness is to force your frameworks on others.
Everyone has different personalities, upbringing, education, and level of faith. They all have different standards of right and wrong. One must not insist on their opinions but think from others' points of view also, so they can have peace.
Jesus also said we can give offerings to God after we made peace with our brothers first (Matt. 5:23-24). Those who have peace with God and with themselves will not break peace with others. Even if others act in evil and break peace, they keep on serving and sacrificing, and eventually maintain peace.
3. What We Should Realize While Pursuing Peace
It is important to speak words of goodness to pursue peace (James 3:6; Prov. 18:21). Words of goodness give strength and courage to others. They are good remedy to revive the souls (Prov. 16:24). On the contrary, evil words break peace (2 Chron. 10). Therefore, we can have peace when we see, hear, and speak only good things (Eph. 4:29).
Next, suppose you think you don't have any hard-feelings, and it is others who are breaking peace. However, is it really other people's fault? You might have hurt their feelings being inconsiderate without realizing it. You should really think about whether or not others think of you as a peacemaker.
Lastly, true peace must be maintained from the heart. Even if you're not at peace with God or yourself, you can be at peace with others to some extent. Because you know you shouldn't break peace, you just control your emotions not to have any falling out with anyone. However, having peace outwardly doesn't necessarily mean you've borne fruit of peace.
In order to have true peace, we should not just control our emotions but we should sincerely serve others and their interests ahead of our own.
4. Blessing for Peacemakers
Those who have peace with God, with themselves, and with everyone will have the authority to drive away darkness (Matt. 5:9). It is in this way that they can spread peace.
Jesus' death is like that of a dying grain of wheat that bears countless fruits (John 12:24). He paid the price for the forgiveness of sins of countless dying souls and reconciled them to God. As a result, Jesus became the King of kings and the Lord of lords and received great honor and glory.
God wants His children to sacrifice themselves and die daily like Jesus and in doing so, be able to bear much fruit. Jesus also said in John 15:8, "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." Therefore, let us follow the desires of the Holy Spirit to bear the fruit of peace and lead many souls to the way of salvation.
Hebrews 12:14 says, "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord." Even if we think we're right, if others have hard-feelings and conflicts arise, what should we do? We should look back on ourselves and become holy and free of evil so that we can see the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will bear the fruit of peace with God, yourself, and everyone so you can enjoy the authority of being God's children on this earth as well as the blessing of seeing the Lord in heaven.
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