Originally published at road2wholeness.com on 2/12/17
Welcome back! Thank you for taking the read and for taking another stroll with The Road2Wholeness Blog. Well, the journey of learning and sharing continues.
Welcome back! Thank you for taking the read and for taking another stroll with The Road2Wholeness Blog. Well, the journey of learning and sharing continues.
Today the subject is “Peace vs. Love”.
Honestly, I never thought I would see or think of these two
words at odds. So, why then am I doing
so? I’ll explain what’s on my mind. Walk with me.
So as we all know, “peace and love” is a pretty common
sentiment. I find it interesting that
these two are almost always coupled together.
It came to me a few months ago and I shared it on my daily epiphany blog
that, “Peace clarifies love because it has only one interpretation”, and
ultimately I believe that is why The Gospel is called “The Gospel of Peace” and
not “The Gospel of Love”. Love simply has
too many layers, interpretations, and is subjected to each person’s capacity to
“be love”.
The type of love Christ
demonstrated is called, Perfect Love.
It’s almost unreachable for man.
Actually, I would say it’s definitely unreachable for man and that is
why God Himself came as The Son to save humanity. No man born of man could achieve the level of
fearless love (perfect love) Jesus demonstrated. Essentially, this is why The Gospel is
“Peace”. The bible says, “Love is
fulfillment of the law”, but yet we are asked to go in peace. Without peace there is no other way to
achieve the love required to fulfill the law.
So, instinctively, we say “peace and love”; leaving no room for our
interpretation of love to fail us.
One of the reasons I believe the command to “Love your
neighbor as yourself” has often been watered down to “Love your neighbor” is
because man cannot reconcile the “as yourself” part of the command. Most people can love anyone when they feel
like the person deserves to be loved, but what happens when we don’t feel like
someone deserves it? That is why the
command is not simply “love your neighbor”, but “Love Your Neighbor as
Yourself”; and I shared on my last blog some of my insights in that regard.
Another distinction I think is worth noting here is that the
word “neighbor” was used. The purpose of
using the word neighbor is to suggest someone with whom you are acquainted
with. When you love a stranger or do a
good deed for a stranger, you are showing goodwill or good character, and I
would say you are a “Good Samaritan”.
However, when you love someone you are in close relation with or with
whom you are in close proximity, you are exemplifying Christ Consciousness. I say this because anyone you are around
long enough will reveal their human nature, which will always come with some
flaws and contention. So, we are not
simply being called to be thoughtful, nice, or generous; we are being asked to
reach for Christ Consciousness or Christ Mindedness. Not to mention, no one who believes in Christ
and who has been saved by grace can honestly use the word deserve. I know I can’t! In fact, my only use of the word deserve, is
to say… “Thank God I don’t have to get what I deserve.”
Another interesting thought that came to me recently was,
“Love is not the absence of truth, but the presence of peace.” This I think is a powerful thought, because
so many people are never able to achieve reconciliation in important
relationships simply because there is a fear to speak the truth.
Honestly, this is a very multi-layered issued
and I won’t get too deep into it here, but I do want to give some context for
what I’m saying. Therefore, if a
relationship is an important one, and both parties agree on that, then it is
vital that we approach the truth and not adapt a “let it go” strategy for peace
sake. Especially if we know that it’s
really not a wash and that it’s eating us up inside. That being said, sometimes to truly salvage a
relationship we must honor a period of separation if need be.
This way peace can really begin to develop if
emotions are high. Honestly, when it
comes to truth; we will always find ourselves in the middle of something. Yet if peace is our motivation, then we
speak the truth with love. If we stand
on the premise of peace we can certainly approach truth, and it will not leave
destruction behind. So again I say…
Peace brings great clarification to love.
Lastly, I’ll share these words Jesus spoke before He
departed.
From John 14:27:
“Peace I leave with you.”
Therefore, I believe that we truly exemplify Christ when we
can also say, “Peace I leave with you.”
This I’ve fully absorbed.
Remember to go within that you may never go without. The God within you awaits you. Until our paths collide again, I wish you... Peace, Love, Life, and Complete Wholeness in Christ.
In Service,
NaTisha R. Williams
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