Peace

Last Friday I talked about some of the struggles i've been facing and how i've just been feeling overwhelmed with life. I then went on to have a very busy weekend and didn't get a chance to write a post for today, so instead of staying up late last night I just decided to go without today. But this morning I was going over some verses and I found one that just struck me.

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:15

For the last several weeks I have been struggling with having peace, things have been going on in my family that have deeply upset my thought life and my peace. What I noticed about this verse is the fact that the peace of Christ starts in our hearts. It can't just be there a little bit, it has to completely rule over our hearts. Now I know the word "rule" is very common and everyone knows what it means but I decided to look it up anyways. Here's what I found...

"To exercise control, dominion, or direction over; govern.
To dominate by powerful influence.
To decide or declare authoritatively or judicially; decree
To be in total control or command; exercise supreme authority.
To formulate and issue a decree or decision."

So by that definition, the peace of Christ is to have complete control and dominion over our hearts and have a powerful influence over our decisions. That's huge! As I was thinking over this verse today I started wondering; how do you know if the peace of Christ is ruling over your heart? Turns out, it's pretty easy to tell! If it's ruling in your heart, you'll be living out the rest of that verse and it'll be coming out in your actions. You see, Luke 6:45 says "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." So if His peace is in you then His peace will come out of you.

Honestly, His peace has not been coming out of me lately. I've been frustrated and angry about the situation i'm in and i've wanted to act out in that frustration and anger. After reading these verses i'm reminded that whatever is in my heart is what will come out in my actions. By acting out in frustration and anger it's clear that right now, those are the things ruling in my heart.

So today, i'm going after peace. I know I need the peace of Christ to fill my heart and come out in my actions so my prayer for today is the same one King David prayed in Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." If anyone else is struggling with this in any area of your life, join me in the desire for peace in both our hearts and our actions.