The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Personal Peace (06/01/06)
There is the common saying that 'if you want peace, prepare for war'. Many people have taken this so serious that no one thinks that there would be peace without necessarily being defensive or offensive. Experience has taught me though that, the best way to defend an attack is to try not to think revenge, for revenge eats into the lifeline of your heart. In fact thinking revenge is like surrendering self to a process of perpetual hurt and self bitterness while the other person is very peaceful elsewhere.
So you ask what am I to do? I respond, create your own resource center of quiet and be calm when buffeted by all sorts of situations. Is that possible? Oh yes! It is not just possible it is real. I believe and indeed do know that for one to be peaceful, you do not need the world. For example, Osama has struck and hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives; a hurricane has cleared thousands of people; or a house has collapsed killing thousands. How do you react to this news? Shock, anger, disbelief? I would the same, but what is important is what you do with the news, because that determines how you respond and live your life.
I have seen men and women who are paralyzed because they can never bring themselves to the level of accepting that they do not have total control over situations. I think this is unfortunate for us Christians especially. If only we can accept our poverty and be ‘FROGs’ – Fully Relying On God, then we would be peace-initiators because all would experience peace by being with or around us.
Simply, what am saying is that personal peace depends entirely on me, my perception and faith convictions. No one, not even the terrorist or torturer can take away my peace; nor would anyone give me my peace. Peace is a gift that Jesus gave to us all who trust in him, but to live it is our daily choice. If we accept our situation and have confidence in him, then we will be peaceful in all circumstances including when we are facing a lot of agony. Remember however, that this peace does not take away the pain, meaning that we will feel the pain, betrayal, rejection …but we will never be bitter or vengeful. Peace is the pillar of our life-line as Christians and we should pray constantly for this.
One thing that I detest most is the fact that we can very easily pray for peace to reign in the hearts of the war torn countries of Africa and the Middle East, while we are not Seeing Eye to eye with our brothers and sisters. Many of us Christians do not understand our calling and so, we end up hiding from the truth and living a farce. I want to assert that you can never be peaceful if you are not living the truth. If you do anything that is not right and deceive others around it, you start an internal process of self denial and rejection. With this situation, whether you live in the Westminster Cathedral or at the Basilica of St. Peter, you will never experience peace. I think, I would even say that peace is the product of living and walking in the truth, otherwise, did not Jesus say that he is the only one who will give us true peace, he who is the Truth, the Way and the Life?
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 854 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Jan Ross
06/11/06
You brought out some interesting thoughts. I like this: "peace is the product of living and walking in the truth". How true! If you were to work on correcting some punctuation errors and sentence structure, it would read more fluidly and your thoughts would be more easily conveyed. I would keep on writing; it's obvious you have an understanding of "peace". Thanks for sharing! :)
Virginia Gorg
06/12/06
Nicely done and has a good flow to it. One comment: you said "personal peace depends entirely on me" then go on to say that peace is a gift from Jesus. I think personal peace 'depends entirely upon my accepting it from Jesus.' But I do like this and see it as a devotional or insprirational article. Thanks for sharing :)