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November 10, 2008 - The Fruit of Peace

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." ( Gal. 5:22-23 )

To many, peace means "no war." In the Bible it meant more: the state of well-being, security, and the condition of being in a right relation with both God and man. The Greek word for peace, "eirene", is regularly used to describe the love of our Savior. This word conveys a rich meaning, one that conjures up a type of peaceful feeling even if war is raging.

To a believer, we find comfort in knowing that Christ the Savior is referred to as "our peace". "For he is our peace, who made both one, and break down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in the flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh: for through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father." ( Eph. 2:14-18).

The Bible's view of peace is summarized in Isaiah 26:3 : "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

The peaceful character qualities listed by Paul in Gal. 5:22-23 are quite different from the qualities of people who follow their sinful natures. Also, the Fruits of the Spirit are different from the spiritual gifts found in 1 Corinthians 12 . Through prayer and meditation God fills us with His spirit. The natural "fruits" of His presence in our life are the by-product of having a deep personal relationship with God. Christians disagree over the nature of spiritual gifts today, but all agree that the fruits of the Spirit are to be desired by every believer.