Growing up in the uncertainty, chaos, and abandonment of a dysfunctional family skewed my understanding of peace into a few quiet moments. Although I grew up in a Christian home and heard about Christ’s peace, I had no point of reference from my life to begin to understand this concept.
Unfortunately, I know that I’m not alone. Many other Christians have also struggled to understand and experience Christ’s peace. As my relationship with Jesus deepened, he began to show me the depth of his peace and how I could dwell in it on earth. Now, I would like to share my lessons with you by beginning with the definition of pride.
The Realities of the Sin of Pride
What is the definition of pride?
In Greek, pride is defined as thinking of oneself above others, blindness.
In Hebrew, pride is defined as strutting as a lion, seethe or boil.
When God created the world and Adam and Eve, there was perfect love, harmony, and peace. God created Adam and Eve with the freedom and power to choose, the confirmation of his unconditional pure love. God also knew the possibility for them to live in their sinful flesh nature, so he gave Adam and Eve one boundary.
"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die." (Gen. 2:16-17, NIV)
However, Satan slithered into the garden of Eden and questioned God’s word and authority. Eve let the devil’s questions bring doubts into her mind while enticing her self-focused desires to be like the all-knowing God. Eve chose not to ask God the truth, and she crossed the boundary. She ate the fruit and shared it with Adam, who remained silent, and man fell into sin. When they chose to disobey God and act from their sin of pride, the perfect peace they had lived in walking with God ended until Jesus came.
We must live in complete surrender and obedience to live in God’s and Christ’s perfect peace. Our servanthood is the opposite of our self-focused, sin-influenced desire to control our lives and others. To overcome the hurdle of pride that blocks our peace, we must understand the three stages of pride.
3 Stages of Pride
Our Thoughts: Every battle we fight between Christ’s Spirit in us and our sinful flesh desires begins in our minds. Our first thought and what we choose to think on determine if we will do things our way or follow Jesus. Depending on the version of the Bible, there are over 160 verses referencing the mind. The apostle Paul instructs us to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3-5) He knew in our sinful, flesh nature; there is no way for us to do the will of God unless we are living our lives with him. Here are a few verses about the importance of what we think.
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isa. 26:3, NIV)
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. (Rom. 8:6, NIV)
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17, NIV)
Soul Decisions: Our thoughts are like words on a chalkboard until we decide to put them into action. Our soul is defined as our mind, will or chooser, and emotions. Once we choose to act on a sinful thought, a barrier is created in our spirit, cutting off Christ’s peace.
Jesus cannot dwell in sin. Therefore, when we sin, we choose to walk away from his peace. When we ask Jesus to be the Lord of our life, we are his disciple. We are choosing to surrender all our thoughts, desires, and actions to serving him because he died for our sins and ensured that we could live with him for eternity.
Jesus knew how difficult it would be to walk with him on the earth because he lived with us, fully human. To help us, he left the Holy Spirit, who could dwell in every believer. What other Savior and King would empower all his people with a living spirit if this wasn’t pure love? Before we make any soul decision, we must never forget that we were bought with the precious blood of Jesus, and we owe him everything.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Cor. 6:19-20, NIV)
Action: Once we make a decision, we hit the ground running. If we are operating from our self-focused or sin-focused desires, we are not living in the peace of Christ. When we do not ask God first or believe that we know better than God, we are operating in the sin of pride. God and Jesus will not force us to listen or obey.
Pure love and faith operate from trusting God and Jesus and obeying their ways. We are called to be ambassadors of Christ and imitators of God. If the actions we choose don’t meet God’s and Christ’s standards, how can you live in their peace? To help us rein ourselves in, Jesus also implanted the fruits of the Holy Spirit in us at salvation.
The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23) When we work with Jesus to mature these fruits we will walk in his peace.
Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (Prov. 16:32, NIV)
How to Surrender to Jesus and Live in His Supernatural Peace
Know what you are holding on to in your heart. Ask God to reveal any peace stealers, and He will. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (Col. 3:15, NIV) Spend time with Jesus throughout the day to listen to his leading. You can study the Bible, read a devotion, listen to praise music or pray with him.
Choose to trust that God’s plans are best no matter what you think, how you feel, what things look like, or how things turn out. Proclaim that He knows best, and you will trust him, no matter what.
Choose to obey God’s direction and instructions in his word and as he speaks to your spirit.
Living in the faith of Jesus Christ means we must choose him or us as our ultimate truth, standards, and instructions. Jesus tells us. "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matt. 6:24, NIV)
Jesus came to empower us through his Holy Spirit living in us so that our spirits can overcome the trials and tests of the world. Jesus makes it possible for the impossible to live in his supernatural peace in the broken world in our imperfect human condition. Hold fast to Jesus and live in his promise.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)
