The Roots of Peace

Peace is part of the path of God, an inseparable part of what it means to be a Christian:

• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)
• Seek peace, and pursue it (Psalm 34:14)
• Pursue peace with all (Hebrews 12:14)
• As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18)

On a technicality, we may say there is peace in the absence of immediate violence -- but that is a shallow peace, a thin and brittle peace. That peace depends on things outside ourselves.


A deeper peace takes hold inside ourselves when we have been cleared of the seeds that become violence: I do not feel at peace when there is animosity or fear or resentment or bitterness inside me. A deeper peace still has been cultivated with understanding, friendship, with compassion and with common cause. Even in the midst of outward trouble, through faith in God, we receive "the peace that passes understanding" (Philippians 4:7). All the inner peace of God is still available in the midst of outer trouble: "These things I have spoken to you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have trouble: but take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) This inner peace is not of an act of will or a product of determination that depends on my own effort. This peace comes from knowing I rest on solid ground.

To be an instrument of peace, first I must be filled with peace, but it need not be my own.