“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

This week, we will be looking at the third characteristic listed in reference to the fruit of the Spirit – peace.

The Greek word for peace is eiréné (pronounced i-ray’-nay). The direct meaning of the word is: one, peace, quietness, rest, wholeness.

The Greek word for peace is derived from the root Greek word eirō. This verb literally means to tie together into a whole that which is scattered. It means to join to make whole.

The peace that the New Testament speaks of is not the absence of difficulties, trials, or tribulations. The peace that the New Testament speaks of is the ability to tie together all the broken and scattered pieces together to bring it to wholeness, oneness, so that there is rest, quietness…peace.

I love that! The world you and I live in is broken and scattered. God’s peace is not an escape from this broken and scattered world. The peace that God offers us in Jesus Christ is the ability to bring broken and the scattered things of this world to make it whole again, to give it rest, to make it one.

God’s peace is not an escape from this world. God’s peace is the antidote and the vaccine for all that is broken and scattered in our world. God’s peace is the only way broken and scattered things can be whole again.

That’s what God offers you and me in his peace. That’s the peace we get to offer to our broken and scattered world.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

I have a confession to make.

I am really tired of this Covid-19 pandemic. I am frustrated and tired. I don’t want to be socially distant anymore. I don’t want to worry about getting sick anymore. I don’t want to worry about our members getting sick anymore. I am tired and frustrated.

Ok. Glad to get that off my chest.

Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter what I think or how I feel about the Covid-19 pandemic. Whether I like it or not, it’s still here. This is still our reality and there’s not a darn thing I can do to change the pandemic and its social consequences.

However, there is something I can change. I can change my attitude.

It’s precisely in such situations the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer” (Romans 12:12). The letter to the Romans is one of Paul’s final letters. Paul is most likely writing this letter in prison. Death is a certain possibility for Paul. That’s when he writes this charge.

• Rejoice in hope
  • This isn’t an empty rejoicing. This is rejoicing in the absolute certainty of the hope of Christ.
  • That Christ wins, that the Kingdom wins, that the darkness is defeated, that satan loses, these are all certainties.
  • That is the source of our hope.
• Be patient in suffering
  • Don’t you hate it when someone tells you to be patient?
  • Suffering always sucks. It’s never pleasant. It’s never fun. It’s always miserable.
  • But that’s why we need to be patient. Suffering has an end. It is not enduring. There will be better days.
• Persevere in prayer
  • This is kind of like “be patient.”
  • When things are tough, don’t give up. Most importantly, don’t give up praying. Praying itself is the posture and the expectation that the current suffering is not right. Praying is the posture of one who knows that there are better days.
  • So, stay at it. Keep praying. Don’t ever give up. Keep on praying.

Rejoice. Be Patient. Persevere.

This too shall end. There will be better days.

“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

“…so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

Did you know that our joy is intimately related to Christ’s joy? As we have seen this week, joy isn’t an emotion we feel, it is a decision we make based on a changed reality. The reason why Christ gives us his word is that his joy may be in us.

John tells us “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

The Word of God and the Son of God are one and the same.

There is no way we can come to know the Son of God apart from the Word of God. As you read the full fifteenth chapter of John, you can see that the context of verse 11 refers to the relationship of God’s Word and the fruitful disciple.

Jesus tells us, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

The way we live in joy, experience joy is to have Christ living in us. That Christ lives in us is not that the idea of Christ is in us, or that a feeling of Christ is in us. Christ living in us means that the Word of God is in us. Christ lives in us as his word lives in us. And when Christ lives in us through his word, Christ’s joy is in us. And when Christ’s joy is in us, our joy is made complete.

That you are reading this is a good thing. This and other ways of regularly spending time with God’s word is how we spend time with God.

May Christ’s joy be in you so that your joy may be complete!