Until we have real peace in our own hearts, there will be no peace on earth. That’s a fact. Nations are made up of people. When nations are at war with other nations it is nothing more or less than people fighting with other people. But war is not the beginning of trouble and hatred and violence. These things begin at home.

When any man or woman or young person is willing to resort to violence against another human being, that is the same stuff of which wars are made. When we (that’s you and I) decide that our comfort, our desires and wants are more important (to us than the happiness, safety, and well being of another person, we are already at war in our hearts.

Jesus Christ gives His own peace to all who trust in Him. And yet we find that even as sincere believers and followers of Jesus Christ we sometimes want our own way — even at the expense of other people. When we recognize such things in our lives, we must return to the Lord and confess our need of Him. He will not only forgive us for going astray, He will also give us the strength and power of His own love to fight back with. And fighting evil desires is one war we can and should win.

Paul tells us in Galatians chapter 5 (great reading) that the Holy Spirit of God within every believer wars against the self-centered desires of the flesh. He explains that we often find that we cannot do the things we may actually want to do. It is no sin and no crime to merely desire the wrong thing. Human nature is filled with such desires. But when we force our will and our self interests on others, then we have sinned against them, against the Lord who died for us all, and against the very grace of God that is at work in our own lives.

Jesus Christ is the source of all peace. He grants us peace within. He has overcome the world and He will show us how to overcome the evil that is in the world. He leads us to overcome evil with good. We do not become victims of self-centered desires when we rise up in the strength and power of God’s love to force back our old desires and habits. We become champions of God’s grace (actually, it is His grace that is the champion within us) when we choose to follow Jesus Christ and to serve and love others above our own self interests.

Jim