The Fruit of the Spirit is Peace

Peace is not a virtue, like love. But it is the fruit of love and many other virtues... We have peace when our whole Christian life is in order.

Peace, like joy is not a luxury in our spiritual life. We need it. Only when we have inner peace can our spiritual life blossom normally. When peace is lacking, when we live in fear, in a turmoil, we become so self-centered, that we cannot make God the center of our attention and desires. We are too preoccupied, worried about many things. That stifles our spiritual life.

I remember, when I was a novice, I read the following advice of a wise spiritual author: Peace, he said, is so important in our spiritual life, that we should make every effort to preserve and not let it slip away. There are many things that could upset us that we must try to ignore. Better forget them. It's not worth losing our inner peace and tranquility over them. Peace is too precious.

The peace of Christ. Peace is a gift of Christ to us. He said so at the Last Supper: "Peace is my farewell to you, my peace is my gift to you. I do not give it as the world gives peace." (Jn 14:27)

• What it is not: the peace of the graveyard, peace of death; or the peace produced by tranquillizers, alcohol, that just numbs you. Nothing is happening. Not even the peace produced by T.M. and other psychological techniques. It just takes away fears, but puts nothing positive in its place.
• What it is like: It's like the quiet hum of an automobile that runs smoothly. Every part is working well and perfectly adjusted to the whole: all parts work together as they should.
• The Peace of Christ is like that. It's the harmony we experience when everything in our life is in order and works smoothly. That is possible only when we have all the Christian virtues properly developed: faith and trust in God, love of God and neighbor, and all the moral virtues: justice, honesty, self-control, etc. When we have our Christian life in order that way, we can have the well-being that we call peace no matter what external troubles we may experience. Christian peace comes from within, it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It comes with virtue and holiness. Like the Psalmist says: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, shall have no fear..." (Ps 91) When everything in our life is brought into submission to God, everything works smoothly. We enjoy a wonderful peace.

Order in our life means three things:

• At peace with God: having a right relation with him. That means, for example:

  • Submission to God's will: Thy will be done. If we want to do as we please, or try to serve two masters, we shall be divided within ourselves. We can have no peace. We have to give ourselves completely to serve God.
  • No peace for the sinner, but guilt. If we sin, we must repent, go to confession and be reconciled. Peace is restored. What a blessing!
  • Living by faith, in perfect childlike trust in God's love. So important! More about that later.

• At peace with one another.

• Love in action: patience, kindness, self-control, overcoming anger and jealousy, being peace-makers, putting up with unpleasant people, etc.
• I would like here to stress forgiveness.
• Being forgiving. To have inner peace it is all important to learn to forgive those who hurt us. So often we lose our inner peace because we entertain grudges, resentment, and bitterness. We can't forgive! And often this leads to depression, poor health, etc.
• Jesus teaches us to forgive, even our enemies: "My command to you is this: love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you." Forgive and forget! Some people say, "I can't." By yourself, you cannot. But with the grace of God, you can. Ask for his help to forgive and forget. Pray for those who have hurt you. Think of Jesus dying on the cross, praying for those who crucified him: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Lk 23:34).
• Asking for forgiveness. If we have offended someone, even unintentionally, as sometimes happens, we must seek reconciliation. Tell the person offended: "I'm sorry. Please forgive me." And peace will be restored between you and a brother. It is not enough to confess your sin to God. Go, and be reconciled with your brother, as Jesus says, before you bring your offering to the altar.

• At Peace with ourself. Order in our personal life. A few points here.

• Importance of humility. Be humble enough to accept your shortcomings, even your sins; love yourself as you are. After all, we are not God! Why pretend we should be perfect? Only God is perfect. Accept yourself just as you are, with great humility. It is the secret of peace. The proud person will hate himself when he fails in some way and be miserable: no peace for him.
• Self-discipline. We must all learn to develop self-control, through self-discipline, self-denial, mortification. Without self-control, we are pulled in all directions by our flesh, our passions, our evil inclinations, our selfishness, our inclination to anger and jealousy etc. It was not without a profound reason that Jesus told us: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross (accept it with love, without complaining), yes everyday, and follow me" (Lk 9:23). It's the only way to have peace within ourself: when we have achieved self-control.

A few important things we need if we are to live at peace:

• Absolute, childlike trust in God for everything. Capable of conquering fears, worries, depressions, etc. Let go and let God! Put him in charge of your fears, troubles, and relax. Know that he will take away your troubles, or he will help you to cope. A wonderful principle that gives me peace when I don't understand why God allows this or that to happen: "All things work for the good of those who love God" (Rom. 8:28).
• Detachment of everything. Then, I am not afraid to lose anything. If I do, I am still at peace. Detachment of my possessions, of my health, of life itself. Total loving surrender to my God.

Our whole life finds our unity with God. When we live our life according to his plan and make him the center of our life, there is order, harmony, and peace. That peace presupposes all the Christian virtues to some degree, and crowns them all. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in us, if we only allow our lives to be led by him.

Holy Spirit Novena Index