"Fight For Peace"

"Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it." 1 Peter 3:11

"Fight for peace" seems like such a contradiction in terms. You would think that in order to have peace you would have to cease from fighting or have no conflicts. On the contrary, most wars that have been fought throughout the history of the world have been fought with the goal of peace in mind. Tyrants, terrorists, rebels have risen up and sought to bring death, destruction and bondage to certain people groups and nations. They do this through physical attacks. In order to stop them, and in an effort to bring and live in peace, the retaliation comes in the form of wars. Thus, wars have been fought in order to bring about and ensure peace.

Now I come to the point of my message. We have a very real enemy who is out to steal, kill and destroy us- including our peace. When he comes, we cannot sit idly by and allow it. We must "fight" in order to maintain our peace. While peace is given to us freely through Jesus- He gives us His peace- we have to battle to keep it; not because He will come and take it away, but because the enemy will try to come and take it.

Staying in peace isn't always easy, especially when bad news comes, when the cares of this life seem more than you can bear, or when others are placing demands on you. Staying in peace isn't always easy when the devil brings his accusations, when he speaks his lies to you, when he brings fear into a situation, when he tries to place confusion in your path. But we must maintain our peace. And again, we have to "fight" in order to do so- we have to engage in spiritual warfare against the enemy. We have to fight the good fight of faith. We have to use the Sword of the Spirit (God's word) against the enemy. We have to go to God in prayer. We have to stand fast and unmovable. We have to apply God's word to our daily lives. We have to pray in the Spirit.

The word ensue above means to pursue. To pursue something is not always an easy task, but if you really want it you will do it. And in order to maintain your peace, you will have to do it... you will have to fight to keep it.

Have a great day. Peace is freely given from the Lord, but it is often maintained through a "fight".

For further reading:
1 Timothy 6:12; 1:18
John 14:27; 10:10
Philippians 4:6-9

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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