Do you have peace? Do you truly know what peace even is? I thought I did, and then I started doing a little digging into the Hebrew word for peace, into the Biblical definition of peace, and I found that my understanding was far too humanistic, much like my understanding of love was until I truly found the meaning of the Gospel.
There’s no better time to be thinking about this than now, when peace in the world is threatened. I’m glad my pastor taught about it this past Sunday because it’s relevant, and it led me to my own ideas I want to portray.
The King James Version of the Bible has the word “peace” written more than 400 times. Even the NIV, which substitutes more contextual English words in place of peace fairly often, has it written 263 times. Clearly, the word, and more importantly, the idea behind it, is integral for believers to understand and apply.
So, what do we understand about peace? In most English dictionaries, you’ll find the definition of peace to include things such as tranquility, freedom from disturbance, a period of no war, etc. Typical synonyms include harmony, safety, silence, tranquility, calmness, amity, etc.
And yet, these definitions haven’t even begun to scrape the surface of peace as the Hebrew word, shalom, describes it. To take from the definition provided in another’s blog post, which I have linked down below, shalom means “to be safe, sound, healthy, perfect, complete.” It “signifies a sense of well-being and harmony both within and without.” It also “includes the idea of vigour (that’s vigor, for us Americans) and vitality in all dimensions in life … shalom speaks of holistic (‘holy’) health for our souls and spirits.”
I want you to pay close attention to this next description of shalom, though, because this is how it’s best described in totality biblically: “shalom is the gift of precious well-being … it is the establishment of a lasting, righteous, good.”
A couple things to break down here: the first is that peace is something that starts within you. You cannot effectively have a peaceful life if your inner turmoil is not settled. Your life is not performed within a vacuum; anything that causes troubles in your heart and mind will cause trouble in visible character. As I wrote two weeks ago (nathanielgevans.net/blog-1/controlling-your-character) the things that create your character are not what you take in but what you give out.
In the worldly vision of identity, we become what our surroundings make us. Metaphorically, the world believes us to be like a sculpture that is carved out and chipped away at by forces around us until we assume the shape we were forced to become by those forces. But God tells us differently. He says that we are more like extremely intricate balloons. We shape ourselves from within using the breath of God to provide form and pressure, and as we grow, we exert ourselves on the world around us, carving out our own unique space to influence our surroundings.
That’s why peace must start within you. You cannot apply peace to the situations and people around you if you have no inner force of peace to exert upon them. We see this consistently described in the Bible as those with wisdom, joy, peace, knowledge, etc. influence and inspire those around them to have the same qualities. You can even see this in the world at large now. Leaders with confidence inspire confidence. Happiness is infectious.
Peace, like joy, is not something that comes from circumstances. It’s something that comes directly from your relationship with God. I think that’s why one of the things Jesus says to the disciples at Passover before He goes to the cross is about the peace He was leaving them with.
John 14:27 says, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
The disciples are about to go through quite the rough time as Jesus is crucified; clearly it was going to impact them considerably. Jesus doesn’t say, “have faith,” or “be strong.” He says, “you will have My peace.” And that peace is something that they had to have to get through the ordeal of losing their teacher. It’s something Paul had to have to survive his imprisonment as long as he did.
Speaking of Paul, the influence of inner peace from Jesus has no better example than when he calmed the Roman guard who was planning to kill himself when the doors to the prison shook open in Acts 16:25-34. In fact, the peace that he inspired was so strong, the man immediately rushed to him asking how to be saved, how to have the peace that Paul did. And Paul went on to introduce the man’s whole household to Christ. Just from a little peaceful influence.
Okay, now I get to my real point, and one that my pastor stressed in his sermon briefly. Peace is mentioned often in the Bible, but the ability to make peace is, though highly praised, minuscule in its comparative presence. Peacemakers are mentioned but one time—in the Sermon on the Mount. And that’s intentional in a couple of ways.
The first is that there is a lot of peace to be made but few peacemakers to actually make it. As I said before, peacemakers can only be those who have true peace from God; therefore, only believers can be peacemakers, and we’ve got a lot of peace we need to inspire. The whole world relies on us to be the ones to confront that which causes anger, pain, injustice, and fear, and make things right; we’re the only ones who can.
The second is that few peacemakers are able to inspire a lot of peace. Just like Paul’s peace was enough to inspire a whole family to Christ, so, too can the peace of one person make a difference in the lives of many. You may have even noticed this if you’ve paid attention. It’s likely that, when people close to you struggle, they come to you for help because they know they’re going to find some form of solace in your advice and companionship.
The affect of even one peacemaker can be incredibly significant, as expressed with an image I’ve provided below. If hostility is like fire and people are like matches, there is a massive chain reaction that occurs when one person steps away from inspiring conflict. The actions of that one person can save hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousands from being burned uncontrollably.
You’ll find that the peace of this world is brittle, taut, and actually nearly as peaceless as full out war. The tension in the air in times of worldly peace is so thick it can be cut with a knife, but the true peace of God is malleable, flexible, and able to be applied at all times without breaking. It can lift any weight, stop every flood, calm every fight, drown every fire.
As believers, we are the only ones capable of being peacemakers; it’s important that we step up to the task and provide what so many are seeking but cannot find. We must be the voice of completeness to the incomplete, the level-headed tranquility to explosive hostility. It’s just one more way we are meant to live out the Great Commission.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/shalom_-_definition
The power of just one peacemaker can show true peace to many, saving them from so much pain.